Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Leddin for the question. I am a strong supporter of the plans of the Minister, Deputy Ryan, for commuter rail in Limerick and Cork. It could really make a big difference for the cities in terms of the climate, quality of life and future development.

The new Shannon task force has just been appointed. One thing I have asked it to do is engage with the three local authorities and the Oireachtas Members who represent the area. There will be an opportunity for direct engagement with the task force, which is designed to look at the estuary itself - not the entire region - to see what the economic opportunities are there. Those opportunities are considerable. More importantly, it will look at how we can then operationalise them and make them happen.

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