Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

How does the Minister know that? He does not seem to have a strategy. Is anyone looking at a situation where subsidies might be beneficial, given the overall cost benefit to the economy? How does the Minister know? He is simply shaking his head and saying it is not possible. After Christmas, the ports, which are part of the portfolio for which I have responsibility in the Labour Party, will come within the Minister's Department. Can the Minister come up with some innovative ways of using maritime and rail freight to move vast amounts of goods by public transport?

The Minister said there has been one expression of interest in the Irish rail freight market. Clearly, I am strongly in favour of Iarnród Éireann as the infrastructure operator but as the regulator, how will the Minister shape the pricing structure, charging mechanisms and so on? Does he envisage a situation where there will be a regulator mechanism, perhaps arising from the comments he made earlier regarding Professor O'Mahony's work? Is that what we are expecting? Down the line, is it possible that some of the likely disputes about limited rail space and charges will end up in the courts, as happened with telecom companies?

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