Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, who regrets he cannot be here. As the Deputy will be aware, the final report of the all-island strategic rail review was published in July of last year. The review's recommendations for County Donegal involve the development of a new rail line from Letterkenny to Derry, which connects to a new proposed rail line linking Derry to Portadown.

The programme for Government commits to working collaboratively to act on the rail review. Assisted by the European Investment Bank, EIB, advisory services, my Department, the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland and agencies across the island are working to progress the rail review's recommendations for the years ahead. As part of this, a project prioritisation strategy on how to optimise the implementation of the review's recommendations is planned for publication later this year. Officials from my Department and the Department for Infrastructure have also been in contact in relation to sharing the findings of a high-level feasibility study from Translink examining the review's recommendation of connecting Derry and Portadown with a proposed spur to Letterkenny. This study and the ongoing EIB work will help to inform the progression of rail projects into the future.

In addition, the Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan saw the roll-out of a number of new and enhanced bus services in the north west last year, including to Letterkenny and Donegal town, implemented by the Donegal-Sligo-Leitrim transport co-ordination unit, TCU. As the Minister of State responsible for rural transport, I commend Mary Coughlan and her team in the Local Link service in Donegal, which is a phenomenal success. The volume of people using those buses is extraordinary.

More generally, the recently concluded Government review of the national development plan, NDP, has confirmed my Department’s annual capital allocations from 2026 to 2030, and a decision on a programme of transport delivery within the available funding will be made in the coming months. The important issue of connectivity in the north west will be considered as part of that final decision.

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