Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)

I share the Deputy's frustration about the length of time it takes to get projects delivered. This Government has been in place for three months. Our mantra is that we are a Government of implementation rather than a Government of strategising and that is the important thing. We will continue to work on that.

The passing loop will be very effective. It will be very important and construction is going to start on that towards the end of this year. I will be putting my shoulder to the wheel with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, to make sure we get that started at the earliest possible date.

There is long-term ambition in the all-island rail review to ensure that we actually do a lot of passing loops right across the country as well as opening up existing railways again. It is great that we are talking about this because five or six years ago a lot of people were saying that we should be closing the line, especially from Athenry right down to Ennis because nobody was using it. Some 650,000 people are using that now. There is a statement in this that we have additional demand because the services are being provided. In the Department of Transport we are making sure that we not alone meet current demand but that we plan for the future as well.

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