Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Tóibín, who makes a very good case. I do not dispute that for a second. It is fair enough that Navan is the largest town in the country without a rail line. Some town has to be the largest town in this country without a rail line. Someone was going to make that case at some time. However, the Deputy makes a good case and provided he makes a good commercial case, the project will not be ruled out.

As I pointed out in my initial contribution, "This position will be kept under review taking account of future developments in the catchment area and the NTA recommends that the corridor identified for a rail link to Navan should be protected from development intrusion." That should be taken by the Deputy as encouragement at a time when new railways are not being built, for good reasons, namely, because of the financial constraints upon us. It is fully explained that the existing transport infrastructure is being kept "at steady-state levels" for the moment, and that is the absolute imperative for us. It is all very well to say we are undercapitalised and we have the lowest capital investment of any country in Europe, but at the moment we do not have any capital. That is the reason. We do not have capital for such projects, but when the mid-term capital review is completed and when more capital is available, which will be 2019 to 2020, I would have thought the project in question would be one of the first to be considered. As Deputy Tóibín so helpfully said, I am sure I will not be in office at that time, but someone else will and it is a project that would be looked at seriously. The fact the NTA has said not to build or develop on that line indicates to me that it is one of the projects being considered for the future.

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