Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have not threatened and Deputy Broughan should not say it. There may be a report but I did not write the report. The position on rail is quite simple. We believe in rail. We subsidise it very heavily because we believe in it. The rail review has come up with certain suggestions and an overview of certain alternatives. They will be decided in due course after the national planning framework has been discussed and decided on. We believe in rail. It does not mean we always believe in promoting non-economic rail lines but no decisions of any sort have been taken. I have made it absolutely clear since I came in that scare stories about massive cuts in the rail network are just not true. They are the sort of scare stories that are run from the Opposition benches because it is convenient. I have repeatedly said to colleagues of the Deputy that there is no privatisation agenda on rail on this side of the House. It is the opposite; we are continuing to increase the subvention to run an efficient well-run railway.

See this speech in context