Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

Iarnród Éireann recently sold some quite new freight carriages. Coca-Cola located in Ballina because of its proximity to the rail network. The Government should examine the delivery of freight. There are independent operators in Europe willing to run the freight business and this service should be opened up to competition. Rather than referring an interested freight operator to CIE, the Department of Transport should evaluate whether there is a case for an independently operated freight system here. The Minister of State should consider this because Iarnród Éireann neither wants to run freight nor let somebody else run it. If we are to take cars and lorries off the roads this is an ideal opportunity to do so, as we will pump a large sum of money into public transport and rail services over the next ten years.

Will the Minister of State provide a solid assurance that the railway safety commission will be answerable to the Oireachtas, not just by publishing investigation and annual reports but by answering the day-to-day queries from Members? Recently we have seen that the Minister for Transport does not answer questions about the National Roads Authority, and the Minister for Health and Children does not answer questions about the Health Service Executive, leaving public representatives in the dark. This is not good enough. I seek an assurance that the Minister for Transport will personally answer questions on the commission and its work. I hope the Minister of State will clarify this matter in his reply to Second Stage.