Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the Minister of State coming to take this Topical Issue. I am not sure if in his earlier answer he was committing to bringing the Luas to the Wicklow-Wexford constituency but if he can, I will welcome it. We will welcome any improvement to rail services. I deeply love where I come from. We have some of the best beaches in the country and wonderful community life in all our towns and rural areas but many people have to commute to work or college. Part of that is due to the continued failure of the IDA to arrange for visits to the Wicklow-Wexford constituency. A lot of people are commuting out of our communities. Primarily, they travel to Dublin. Based on CSO statistics, 2,170 people commute from Gorey from Gorey daily for work purposes, from Arklow, 2,723, from Courtown, 1,050 and from Rathdrum, 544. That is 6,500 people commuting primarily along the M11 to Dublin every day for work purposes. For those who have to commute an hour or more to get to either their place of work or study every day - significant numbers go to Dublin for study - as a proportion of the overall numbers moving, in Gorey, it is 19.2%, in Arklow, it is 17.6%, in Rathdrum, it is 23.8% and in Courtown-Riverchapel, it is 25.1%. We have a significant commuting population. What is the State's response to that?

There is an increasingly clogged M11. If I wanted to ensure I was here for 9 a.m. on most mornings, I would have to leave Gorey at 6 a.m. Having been a commuter even during the height of the Celtic tiger, it never had to be as early. If the weather is bad - the Ceann Comhairle knows this - or there is an incident along the M11, it is impossible. Part of this is due to varying speed limits along the M11. I am a great believer in public transport. There is a good service provided by Wexford Bus and most of the time by Bus Éireann Expressway, although I am concerned at reports it is considering the service. We do not have a realistic rail alternative. From Gorey, Arklow and Rathdrum, there are only six daily rail services. For towns equidistant from the capital such as Carlow, there are 11 services, from Drogheda or Dundalk, there are 16 and from Portlaoise there are 32. When I posed a question to Irish Rail, even though there are plans to extend to the DART to Wicklow, on what plans it had for the rail service south of Wicklow town, which would service Rathdrum, Arklow and Gorey, it only answered what it is doing in terms of the DART extension. When it comes to rolling stock, the last bits of rolling stock are provided to the Rosslare rail line. There is no realistic alternative. We have 6,500 or more people every day travelling for the most on the M11 and yet there seems to be no plan from the Government or the Department of Transport to alleviate the challenges they face.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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I have known Deputy Byrne for a while and what a proponent he is of public transport and improving it, reducing congestion and emissions. It has always been something he has believed in. It is hard to dispute what he presented. Even if half of those 6,500 could be gotten into train carriages, the difference it would make on the M11 would be significant. I will outline some of the infrastructure and plans for expansion of rail services. In Wexford, the N11 or N25 Oilgate to Rosslare Harbour project, which has received an allocation of €4 million for 2025 is currently in the design and environmental evaluation phase. This would deliver safety improvements to the N11 and N25 corridors in addition to improving regional connectivity and ensuring that the increased volume of freight traffic using Rosslare Europort can be accommodated. Some €2 million has also been allocated for the Rosslare Europort access road - Rosslare port adds to the M11 traffic and issues. In Wicklow, €1.45 million has been allocated to the N11 bus priority interim scheme which would deliver improved safety and bus priority measures on a section of the N11 in the Bray-Kilmacanogue area. Work is continuing on the DART+ programme which will double the peak-hour capacity and triple the length of the existing DART network. As part of this programme, DART+ coastal south involves an improvement to DART services on the existing DART line south of Dublin city with the current focus on enhancing services between Bray and Greystones. Stage 1 of the project will increase train frequency from two to three trains per hour from Bray to Greystones, while stage 2 will boost train frequency from six to 12 trains per hour between Dublin Connolly and Bray. Last month, Iarnród Éireann commenced a non-statutory public consultation on the emerging preferred option for stage 1 of DART+ costal south which will run until December.

The NTA greater Dublin area transport strategy 2022-2042 adopted in 2023 included a recommendation to extend the DART service to Wicklow town. Extending the DART to Wicklow is also supported in the all-island strategic rail review published in July last year. I understand this extension can be facilitated through utilising the new battery-electric DART carriages which arrived in Ireland in late 2024 and are currently undergoing testing. The new battery-electric DART carriages will first be deployed on the busy northern commuter line from Dublin Connolly to Drogheda from 2027. As more carriages arrive, they can be deployed to extend DART services to and from Wicklow from around 2029 onwards. This should provide an improvement in capacity to the people of Wicklow.

In relation to overcrowding currently being experienced on the Rosslare line, Iarnród Éireann is operating all available fleet at the busiest times to meet record demand it is experiencing on all routes. As a result, there is currently no additional fleet available to further increase capacity on the Gorey-Wicklow to Dublin commuter services. There is potential to examine the deployment of new rail fleet as it becomes available, including fleet released as a result of the entry into service of the new DART+ fleet. Iarnród Éireann will keep options for future fleet deployment under review subject to NTA approval. It is not the answer the Deputy is looking for. It is easy for me to say this; I am not the Minister for Transport. I am here representing him today. It sounds like the addition of a few carriages, if that could be accommodated, would make a whole of difference to commuters from that area and also for those who continue to use the M11. It is certainly something I will go back to the Minister with and I know the Deputy has talked to him about it as well.

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate that the Minister of State is only providing the answer on the part of the Department of Transport but it shows why I have very little confidence in that Department or the NTA on delivery. I am a huge supporter of completing the M11 from Oilgate to Rosslare. That will not assist in any way the 6,500 daily commuters who for the most part are moving north but let us move on with it as quickly as possible. There is no real significant improvement in what will happen on the N11-M11. I had to laugh because it is very similar to the answer I got from Irish Rail. The Minister of State is just confirming that as far as Irish Rail is concerned, south of Wicklow town, it does not really care.

In the context of the reference to new rail carriages on the route to Drogheda, I despair about the level of interest that is there. I support talk about doubling the track from Dublin to Belfast and moving from two to four lines. In that context, I have a simple request. Can we double the Rosslare rail line from a single line to two? When it comes to challenges we will face in the future, Irish Rail is spending huge sums of money on dealing with coastal erosion. Why not invest that money in ensuring that we have a proper rail line, even if we have to move it further inland?

I am disappointed with the response. I appreciate that the Minister of State is answering on behalf of the Minister. I will seek an urgent meeting with the Minister on this matter because the clear message coming back to people in Wicklow and Wexford who commute by rail is that there is no plan whatsoever to try to alleviate the continuing problems.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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I fully understand the Deputy's frustration in terms of the answer. I also appreciate the frustration of the people he represents in Wicklow-Wexford who have to make this journey in the context of the time of the morning they have to get up in order to make it to work on time. The reply did not give them the comfort that the Deputy would like to give them.

The Deputy referred to Carlow having a service 11 times per day. I do not know the engineering restrictions or the restrictions that apply in respect of the track from Rosslare. I also do not know what is constraining Iarnród Éireann from increasing the frequency of services on the Rosslare line to 11 per day. If that was a target or was something that could be worked on or teased out, it would provide a lot of relief in terms of capacity on the line. Perhaps there is some type of engineering or capacity issue that I am not aware of. It is something worth exploring further. I do not see why it can be done in respect of Carlow but not Rosslare. I will ensure that the Minister for Transport is made aware of the details of this matter. I know the Deputy will not be shy and will not retreat from trying to obtain a meeting with him. However, I will ensure that he knows how important a project this is for the Deputy.