Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

That is a point well made. Athy is obviously a growing town. It is an important commuter town, not just for people to work and commute but also for people to study and commute, so it is important that we facilitate that, take cars off the road and provide as much public transport as possible. The investment in the extra carriages, as outlined, on the Drogheda line will free up carriages. Deputy Wall has made the case well that much of that should be put on the Waterford to Heuston line, thereby enabling greater capacity for Athy. He is right that the numbers speak for themselves. An impressive number of journeys are taken on that line, in that area. We have to support that. If we are serious about reducing emissions and about climate action, wherever possible and where we have demand we need to facilitate this type of journey. I appreciate the Deputy bringing it up. If there is positivity to be taken from the response, it is that Iarnród Éireann is working towards a strategy of enhancement of services on InterCity routes in the short to medium term, but this will all be dependent on funding. I know that Deputy Canney is fighting hard for extra funding for public transport.

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