John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senators Mansergh and Jim Walsh for raising this matter and their contributions. The Minister for Transport informs me that he has no plans to close any railway lines nor has he received any recommendations to date from Iarnród Éireann recommending the closure of any railway line in any part of the country. He understands the management of Iarnród Éireann is carrying out a review of the implications for its rail freight business with the closure of IFI, its third largest customer of freight services, which has resulted in serious losses in business and revenue.

The current review of rail freight is the normal business response which could be expected from a commercial organisation responding to the loss of a major customer. It is also against a background of rail freight expected to lose approximately €14 million in the current year with the company as a whole incurring an overall deficit estimated at approximately €25 million after subvention of approximately €150 million. The Minister is informed that Iarnród Éireann is examining all major loss making areas of its business with a view to rectifying its serious financial position, but the board of CIE has not yet reached any final conclusions in this regard.