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

The strategic rail review did a good job. There were further proposals for rail lines, particularly in the Border counties, running from Mullingar, through Cavan and Monaghan, towards Portadown. That is a strategically important route. We have to go back to the particular case from earlier. We have to be careful. We cannot do everything. While I would love to see a railway line reopen from Collooney to Claremorris, the review did not recommend it. I do not think we should give false promises. I do not see that coming. The preserving of the line is a separate matter, whether that is in the form of a greenway or making sure, as Deputy Ó Cuív said, that if there was a change in subsequent years where the line became viable, that the capability to use it is retained. That is not an easy issue in my mind with regard to the Collooney to Claremorris line. We will look at that with regard to how the line might be preserved.

Building new rail lines is incredibly expensive.

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