Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Will the Minister outline how much of an increase in PSO and capital funding he has secured for thisyear? The draft rail review report clearly stated there was a need for an increase in funding of €640 million over a five-year period. We have a serious problem as the workers have not received an increase in over ten years. Negotiations are ongoing, but there is the potential for strikes. There is a serious issue related to capacity on rail lines. The number of carriages at different times has been reconfigured on some rail lines in my constituency to fill a gap. In other words, carriages were removed from early morning commuter trains and attached to later trains to fill a vacancy. Simply, insufficient money is being put into Iarnród Éireann to allow it to provide an efficient and effective service and passengers are the ones who are being compromised in that regard.

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