Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I seldom raise a matter on the Adjournment. I do so only if I feel a matter is of considerable importance. While I very much welcome the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Áine Brady, as an officeholder of this House I feel we must do better than have a single Minister of State with prepared responses to five Adjournment debate matters. We must reform the way we do business to ensure matters brought to the attention of this House are properly dealt with.

I regard the issue as very important. I refer to the future of rail services in the south east, specifically the future of the Waterford to Rosslare railway line. I refer to general Government policy on public transport. For a long time, we have listened to commitments to having a green tinge to public policy, with investment in public transport to get people off the roads and, in particular, on to the environmentally friendly rail network. However, there is no clear manifestation of that in policy terms. I was Minister with responsibility for the environment in the run-up to the Kyoto Agreement and I chaired the prep conference for Kyoto as president of the Council of Ministers. We have demanding climate change abatement commitments and these will become even stronger. We must have an overt, proactive development strategy for the rail network. I have been formally advised by Mr. Emmett Cotter, district manager of Irish Rail for Waterford, that Irish Rail is considering suspending services on the Waterford to Rosslare line within weeks. Clearly, the service as constructed is not viable but it is not viable because it has never been made viable. It has never been properly marketed and there was no effort to see if there was tourism potential or if further local business could be attracted.

Since the demise of the sugar beet industry - the mainstay of the line - there has been a determination by Irish Rail to allow this line to close. We need marketing and promotion in order to preserve and develop this important rail link in the south east. It is fanciful that we are talking about the Atlantic corridor or a motorway being built along the entire west coast and southern coast to link the south east to the north west when at the same time we want to dismantle the rail links that currently provide the interaction. Irish Rail has been contacted by local interests, including the Waterford & Suir Valley Heritage Railway group, to make a proposal in respect of the future of the line. I hope to hear from the Minister of State, even if my request was of a general nature and she is lacking specifics, that she will bring back to the Minister for Transport and the Cabinet the determination of the people of my county of Wexford, of Waterford and of the south east generally to preserve and develop the infrastructure that has been there for decades. It is unacceptable there is almost a deliberate policy to undermine them.

I can provide the Minister with some of the logistical issues associated with the provision of this service that make no business sense. There seems to be no business case or plan to develop and enhance rail in Ireland. Instead, there is a view from Irish Rail that is predicated on seeking to cut services wherever possible. The idea that one might think outside the box to develop the line with community interests, how students could be brought to Waterford Institute of Technology, how tourists could be brought on a heritage trail and how local commuters could be facilitated on a cheap basis in terms of timing, logistics and marketing seems not to have occurred to Irish Rail. I ask the Minister of State to explain to the House the commitment this Government has to rail services in this country generally, specifically to those in the south east and more specifically to those between Watford and Rosslare.

Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I am responding to this matter on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey. Rail services in the south east have improved significantly in recent years, reflecting the sustained high levels of investment in the railway network generally. Over the period 2000-09 a total of €2.9 billion in capital funding and €1.69 billion in current funding has been invested in railway infrastructure and services. The railway network in the south east has benefited from this.

Following significant investment in track, signalling and other infrastructure on the Dublin-Waterford and Dublin-Rosslare lines, the recent focus of investment in the south east has been on new fleet, with resulting benefits in frequency for customers. The Waterford-Dublin route is now fully operated by larnród Eireann's new intercity railcar fleet, which provides customers with a modern, comfortable and reliable rail service. This has allowed an expansion in services, with seven trains daily now operating from Waterford to Dublin. This includes a new express 7.10 a.m. Waterford to Dublin line, introduced in November 2009, with a journey time of two hours, calling only at Carlow en route.

All Rosslare Europort and Wexford-Dublin services are now also operated by larnród Eireann's new intercity railcar fleet. larnród Eireann has expanded services between Wexford and Dublin from a service of three trains each way daily up to 2008 to five trains each way daily over 2008 and 2009. Rail freight operations in the south east have also been expanded with increased container traffic and pulpwood traffic between Ballina and Waterford.

Despite these service improvements that have supported increased passenger carriage in recent years, larnród Eireann is facing a very severe financial challenge following a decline in passenger numbers in 2008 and 2009. In response, larnród Eireann is implementing a wide ranging cost recovery plan to ensure its financial viability. In this context, I understand the company is considering the suspension of services on the Waterford-Rosslare line. The line, on which one train operates each way daily, has experienced low patronage for many years with approximately 25 passengers each way per day. I understand that revenue covers only 2% of operating costs. In addition, the sugar beet freight business, which sustained the viability of the line, ceased in 2006 following the cessation of the sugar beet business in Ireland.

Decisions in regard to services such as those on the Waterford-Rosslare route are a matter for larnród Éireann having regard to the resources available to it. I understand that larnród Éireann has surveyed customers on the route in terms of origin and destination and is examining possible alternative services which could be provided to customers on the route. larnród Éireann expects to make a decision in regard to the service in the coming weeks. I also understand that it is exploring with interested parties the possibility of establishing a heritage railway on the route, which would be of benefit to tourism in the area.

Railway services in the south east have benefited from investment in railway infrastructure and rolling stock under the NDP, Transport 21 and from the annual subvention to larnród Éireann. This will continue to be the case but larnród Éireann, in view of the pressures on the resources available to it from fares and Exchequer funds, must also address the matter of low patronage services as part of its ongoing efforts to achieve break-even.