Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her answer. I am particularly interested in the west. Galway and Limerick have a major role to play as we develop our offshore resource. This is strongly linked to the development of rail. This issue is not just a matter of offshore renewable energy but about shifting rail freight from east to west. There is a fantastic opportunity in the Minister of State’s neck of the woods with the western rail corridor to bring that infrastructure down the coast. We have good news on the Shannon Foynes line as well. There is a fantastic opportunity for the west coast. I am concerned by the language used about developing on a phased basis. I echo the Taoiseach’s words from COP27 that we do not have a minute to lose. We need to go full steam ahead to develop this infrastructure as fast as we can. We need to move from the thinking that we develop the east coast first, then get to the south and then move to the west. We need to develop all our infrastructure as fast as possible.

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