Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Callely, and his officials to the House and thank him for setting out comprehensively the regional transport policy. I wish to confine my remarks to the issue of rail in the mid-west region. The Minister of State will be aware there is much concern in the region due to the lack of investment and the need to upgrade the rail infrastructure. Senator Dooley said the success of the Limerick-Ennis rail line was due to the upgrading, frequency and punctuality of the service.

The Limerick-Ballybrophy line goes through Nenagh and Roscrea and is a low grade service. While some of the stock and the line have been upgraded and there has been some investment in recent years, I noted from the Minister's speech, when referring to the western rail corridor, that he said significant infrastructure investment would be needed to bring the rest of the line up to passenger standard. If that does not happen, there is no hope of the Limerick-Ballybrophy link being upgraded.

For the economy of the region, particularly the north Tipperary-east Limerick area, the railway line is probably the most under utilised resource. A huge amount of public money is being invested in upgrading the road infrastructure in the area and the figures the Minister of State quoted are extraordinary. He said €7.8 billion was invested in national roads between 1997 and 2005 and €1.4 billion in 2005 alone. That is excellent and we are all pleased. Those who travel the N7 are particularly pleased at the opening of the Monasterevin bypass which has made a huge difference. A sum of €500 million has been invested in non-national roads in 2005, all of which is justified. However, in the past four years €1 billion has been invested in rail infrastructure and rolling stock.

In this regard there was an announcement of a €90 million investment in the Mallow-Cork-Midleton rail system in the context of the Cork area strategic plan and the Minister of State is looking at the western rail corridor. On a simple comparison, rail is the poor relation. I do not say rail should have the same investment as road, but it is clear where rail appears in the order of priority.

Given that the Kyoto Agreement comes into force today, one way of reducing emissions is to upgrade the rail infrastructure and encourage people to leave the car at home and take public transport. The success of the Luas has shown that is exactly what people are doing. As in the case of the election slogan regarding the DART to Dingle, we cannot have the Luas all over the country, but we can upgrade existing infrastructure. A line such as the Limerick-Ballybrophy line is a classic one. With relatively small investment it could be linked to the national rail grid but there is no sign of that on the Government's agenda. I appeal to the Minister of State to put that issue on the priority list. His colleague, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, is being written to by public representatives in the region with regard to holding a meeting with the rail partnership which comprises the local authorities and other interests in the area to promote the idea of investment in this line. For economic investment alone it is essential to have the line upgraded.

Senator Dooley mentioned Shannon Airport which is a key part of the infrastructure of the region. The railway line is also a key part of the infrastructure. It is an under-utilised resource. I recall being at a meeting when the then Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, said the Government was committed to keeping it on track. Unfortunately, that is not enough. We are being left behind in the region due to under investment in the railway. I appeal to the Minister of State to have that issue put on the priority list as soon as possible.