Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

Transport 21 mentions bringing a line to Navan but a line is already in place to Kingscourt. If the existing line to Kingscourt was opened for freight transport, and a park and ride scheme offered for passengers, it would take a lot of pressure off the roads.

The damage being done to roads by freight has been brought home to me recently and I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to speak on that subject later tonight. Construction of the Castleblayney bypass has caused €5.5 million of damage to the regional and county roads which we have worked so hard to build. That gives some indication of what heavy transport can do to a road network. In that context we should use every possible opportunity to remove extremely heavy loads from the roads and onto the rail system.

New roads are being built, such as the N3 through Navan, which will eventually go through Cavan. Would the Government not consider a rail line along that road? No matter how big we build our roads it has been proved that they will fill up with traffic, as has happened with the M50 and as is starting to happen with the M1. We all hope the economy will continue to prosper but that will mean more cars and trucks. The only way to avoid that level of congestion is to create a rail system so that passengers or freight can get straight into Dublin.

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