Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)

To be straight with the Deputy, of course it is a good idea. As a concept it really works and in theory there would be huge support for it. Given the financial reality, however, we must look at prioritisation. I agree there is a restriction on return for these lines because of the lack of interconnectivity and I hope we will get there at some stage in the future. Having said that, there has been a significant amount of investment in these lines to improve them and ensure their delivery is maximised. I will forward the full range of investment across all lines to the Deputy if she wishes.

Some resignalling works in the DART underground or interconnector project that have capacity benefits themselves are being treated separately by the NTMA and are being assessed with a view to making progress on individual aspects. Provision could possibly be made for those works between now and 2014.

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