Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I am sure the Ceann Comhairle wonders why I have risen to speak on anything to do with railways, because in Cavan-Monaghan, as in Donegal, we do not have railways. The Minister referred to a sum of €1.5 billion. Can he ensure that if we cannot get any money for railways we will receive compensation in some other way? When we lost our railways in 1956 we were assured the road structure would be put in place and thankfully, as the Ceann Comhairle will be aware, we are moving towards that in Monaghan. In Cavan, however, we do not have a road structure of any note. For example, there was another serious accident in Belturbet town the other day but there is no word of when the bypass for the town will be built. If we cannot get the money for railroads we must get compensation in other ways.

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