Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Niamh Smyth is right. We have a real challenge in that the number of Cavan and Monaghan people commuting to Dublin is very significant and they are coming into a city that is not going to have the same road capacity. When we introduce the BusConnects scheme, all the cars commuting from long distances as well as vans and trucks will be meeting a Dublin road network that is at capacity and restricted in terms of access. The remote working that will occur post the pandemic may help in that regard. It may help towns and villages in Cavan and Monaghan see a big revival. What my colleague, the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, is doing with the new hubs is an opportunity to rethink the way we work and commute. Rail can provide a massively useful component in that. It would help us meet our climate targets as well as address commuting.

However, I return to the fact that there is a constraint here, which is capital. Even if we do for the next decade what we do in this decade, the existing projects will eat up all that money. Every part of the country is looking at rail projects. There are also rural bus projects that we have to fund, and the Connecting Ireland plan is the most significant and important investment we have to prioritise. There is a challenge, therefore, in how we prioritise or how we do it, but I would not rule it out. I would go further in terms of reallocating more of our roads funding towards public transport that might help us overcome some of that difficulty, but that is something we have to agree on politically and that will be a challenge, as the Deputy knows.

To respond to Deputy O'Rourke regarding the Navan rail line, it is now very much in train as part of the series of projects that we will fund over the period of two decades. The route validation exercise for that route has been completed. There are two routes. Route A is 34 km as per the draft railway order completed by Iarnród Éireann in 2011.

Route B is similar to route A but with a section to the east side of Dunshaughlin. It is in planning and is being considered. Cost estimations for each of these route options is expected to be completed soon. It gives a clear picture of how it fits in with the real challenge we have in meeting all of the capital we need.

To come back to the north-west rail corridor and the future of freight, Deputy Cannon is right there are real challenges in Ireland because of the shorter distances and because we have developed road dependency. We have put tens of billions of euro over the years into closing our rail freight system and opening up alternative road-based systems. It is not a surprise the economics are challenging with regard to the shunting yards and all of the other equipment that would help make rail freight possible. I do not believe it is completely finished, however, or that it will not be part of the solution in meeting the climate challenge and having a vibrant modern economy. In Europe and throughout the world people are looking again at sustainable solutions.

Forest products are still moved by rail. A number of products from the north west are carried from Ballina by rail freight at present. As Deputy Leddin said, we will reopen the Foynes line. One of the reasons we will do so, as well as to get golfers to the Ryder Cup in a sustainable low-carbon way and benefiting the communities he mentioned with stations along the route, is that we expect new mines to be developed along the existing rail lines. It would be insanity to ship mine ore by road. It will go by rail. Once we start to have some products moved by rail the economics will begin to make sense because we will cover the main line costs and the incremental costs will begin to decrease. Earlier we were speaking about big industrial investment in Oranmore close to the rail network and on the rail network.

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