Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am an avid user of the rail system. Shortly, this morning I will get on my bike, I will go on the train and I will return to County Clare.

The railway system is linear, as the Minister will be aware. It only benefits certain communities that are on the railway line or approximate to it.

In the case of Cratloe and Crusheen, it is frustrating for these communities to see the train pass them several times a day. The station in Crusheen was built in the 1860s. Cratloe was built in 1859. Crusheen closed in 1976 and Cratloe in 1963.

Both communities are very populated. They have become spillover communities, for the nearby towns of Ennis in the case of Crusheen, and Cratloe would have a lot of people from the Limerick and Shannon area.

There was €1.5 million allocated for the reopening of Crusheen in 2010. It got planning in 2011, but we have not seen it materialised. If Iarnród Éireann come out with this recommendation that we reopen Cratloe and reopen Crusheen, I would like to know will Deputy Eamon Ryan, as Minister, back that with Government funding.

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