Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)

I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment. It is good to have someone from the west in this role. I know he has always had a strong commitment to the development of the western rail corridor. It always strikes me that the western rail corridor only extends halfway up the west. We need to bring it the rest of the way. It is clear from the map produced with the proposals in the rail review that there is a massive gap. From north Mayo upwards, there is nothing. We need to ensure that changes. A fundamental change that needs to happen is to open the western rail corridor all the way to Sligo and beyond. It needs to go right up the west coast to ensure we can develop and open up the whole region to meet its potential. The places on our island with the most potential are those that have had the least investment. If they got that investment, they would flourish and rail is key to that happening. We have a lot of work to do in that respect.

The rail review was an all-island review, which was very welcome. It looked at all parts of the entire island. It talked about the need for decarbonisation and developing alternative modes of transport that are less carbon-intensive than those we are currently using. An awful lot of freight is moved by road on trucks. Much of that could be moved on rail. Our public transport services need to be enhanced. Most Deputies from the west, including me, drive up and down to Dublin every day. If I came from Sligo by train, the train home would be long gone by the time I was finished here. That is the problem. The last train leaves at 7 p.m. That need to change. I know Mr. Jim Meade and the people in Iarnród Éireann are working towards greater frequency and better planning in respect of all of that but that will require investment. I hope the Government will see the dividend that would pay. Investment is not spending money but investing it for a return that will have a multiplier effect for the regions in which it is invested and for the economy and ecology of the country. That needs to be made very clear.

In many parts of the country, including Mullingar and Athlone, additional train tracks and more double-tracking are needed. We need greater frequency of train services, which can only be done with investment in double-tracking.

With regard to the key airports, one of the strange things about this island is that our airports do not connect to rail. Shannon Airport has been mentioned by some of our colleagues. Clearly, a rail line to Shannon Airport needs to be a priority but so too does a line to Dublin Airport. The metro line has been baked in the oven for a long time. An awful lot of money has been expended so far but nothing has been built. Alternatives need to be looked at. A DART service to Dublin Airport could be done from the north line. This needs to be done much faster. That is not to say that the metro should not proceed. It certainly should because our capital city needs proper transport infrastructure and an underground put in place.

There is a lot of work to be done. The rail review has put a template in place but it does not go far enough, particularly when we look at the space left vacant in the north west.

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