Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Over two months ago I asked the Minister in a parliamentary question for his views on the reliability of the route profitability figures published in the 2016 rail review carried out by Roland Berger from the National Transport Authority, NTA, and whether his attention had been drawn to anomalies in the figures in the report. His response was that his Department had consulted the NTA and the NTA was not aware of any anomalies. I had a fair idea of what the NTA would say and I was probably more interested in the Minister's thoughts.

On 3 January 2017 the Minister was sent a letter from a statistician raising serious concerns about the reliability of route profitability figures in the 2016 rail review. I have a copy of the letter and the generic response from the Minister's private secretary. In the letter the statistician provides clear evidence of cost misallocation across various routes, including four earmarked for closure. Across ten routes he examined he noted that the cost figures were either impossible or improbable.

The most glaring anomaly in the figures appears to be on the Gorey to Rosslare segment of rail track, a route that could be earmarked for closure. Here I will give just three examples but there are many more. Perhaps someone can explain how the five stations on the Limerick to Ballybrophy line - three staffed and two not staffed - can cost €31,000 per annum to maintain while the four stations on the Gorey to Rosslare line - two staffed and two not staffed - can cost €1.17 million per annum to maintain? How can CCTV on just one crossing on the Limerick Junction to Waterford line cost €252,000 per annum to maintain while on the Ennis to Athenry route, CCTV costs on seven crossings work out at €71,000, or just over €10,000 each? Why does the report state that €194,000 could be saved in wages for centralised signalling by closing the Gorey to Rosslare segment, when the centralised signalling base is in Greystones and the controllers will still be employed?

There is no doubt the figures Irish Rail, the NTA and the Department are working off which will determine whether rail lines are kept in service or closed, are flawed. I am aware the NTA states it is confident the route profitability methodology used by the experienced consultants is robust and suitable for the comparative analysis that was carried out, but why have these experienced consultants only been awarded one contract across all Government Departments since 2011? I ask the Minister to direct that an independent audit be carried out on the figures arrived at in the 2016 rail review.

Closing rail lines is probably one of the most regressive decisions any Government could take. Threatening to close rail lines using incorrect costing figures in conjunction with a flawed business model is doubling down on this stupidity. The Rosslare to Dublin rail line is one of the most spectacular routes, not just in Ireland, but in Europe. However, not enough people avail of it, the route is slow and the service is not regular enough. The trains do not match up with the ferries that arrive in Rosslare and, in another moment of madness, the station at Rosslare Harbour was relocated a good distance away from the terminal - close to 600 m away. It is almost like someone set out to sabotage this line to make it unusable and then adjusted the figures to make it seem even more unprofitable and unviable.

There is no doubt there has been no political pressure for many years about this line. However, while it does not require political will to continue to have it operating, closing it would essentially amount to branding Wexford as a backwater of lesser socioeconomic relevance than towns like Sligo, Killarney, Westport and Dundalk. It would be a poor decision if it was ever closed.

See this speech in context