Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the commitment to extend the DART to Drogheda and I am meeting Jim Meade, the chief executive of Irish Rail, next week to discuss further plans they may have for that. It is absolutely critical that the Minister continues with the commitment that is there. I have no doubt he will be aware, as I am from listening to the radio this morning, of the backup of traffic in Julianstown coming from east Meath, Drogheda and south Louth trying to get to Dublin and indeed traffic coming from Dublin to get into that same area for people going to work. It is critical that we have both an alternative bypass of Julianstown and also a high-speed hybrid electric fleet in place as soon as possible. To be clear, I think what the Minister is saying is that the hybrid vehicles will be on the rail before the electrification comes and that should mean it will be in place much sooner than one would normally expect. Again, what timeline has the Minister been given for that?

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