Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

Some private sector companies have considered the move but the big difficulty in Ireland is that distances are very short and end-to-end points do not have huge business at either end. This is the reality here and in Europe. Freight movements on trains are more successful in Europe where they are over long distances.

In fairness to Iarnród Éireann, Norfolkline, a major international shipping company, put a proposal to it for the movement of freight across this country. It came on board with a joint venture and worked it through. Unfortunately, it failed completely because of the private sector costs, including trying to get the goods to the station. They had to hire trucks to get the goods there. There was also the cost of putting goods on and off trains, which meant the operation was not viable.

The private sector, which is very experienced in shipping and operating rail systems in Europe, came to the conclusion that, given the configuration in Ireland, it was not viable because of the cost base of moving much freight by rail. It was significantly different to do so by road. That is the reality of using rail freight in this country.

Iarnród Éireann has maximised its benefit in some specialised bulk cargoes, which it is growing, and some specific long loads of container traffic.

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