Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

I am happy to speak on this debate about developments in the BMW region during the present plan and am pleased to see the Minister has opened the National Development Plan 2007-13. As he devoted considerable time to it in his speech I can speak on this matter.

We are inclined to forget the feat it was to get 75% funding for the national development plan. At the time, making the application and pushing it through was quite an arduous process, particularly because Irish economic indicators were coming good at the time. That made it more difficult to put on the poor mouth for a given region. Nevertheless, we did so and it was pursued professionally and thoroughly with the result that the national development plan was set up.

This mainly comprises core funding which spills out to other projects so that while it may appear that some elements of the plan fell short of their allocations, the core funding element allowed it spill over into other developments. We may not pay enough heed to that point.

Much of the public transport aspect of the plan has filtered through to Transport 21, which is necessary, desirable and much appreciated. There was a time when railway lines around the country were closed down. People then turned to cars and having bought one, wanted another to the point that some households had three or four. Of course cars are necessary but the railway lost its allure in the rush to use motor transport. Rail travel is coming back, however, because trains are less stressful for travellers, better for the environment and socially desirable.

In his speech the Minister said:

Last August the Government announced its intention to prepare a new national development plan to cover 2007 to 2013. . . . The national spatial strategy will be a central theme in the next plan. Without the pro-active implementation of it we will not achieve the balanced regional development that we all want. Implementing the national spatial strategy will be particularly relevant to the BMW region. Of the nine gateways identified in the national spatial strategy, five are in the BMW region.

Athlone, Mullingar and Tullamore have been identified as a gateway. These are modest and thriving towns. I would regard Athlone as the most important but Mullingar would think the same of itself, and if the Minister was still in the House he would say the same of Tullamore. As he has left I can say this with impunity.

A critical section of missing rail infrastructure is the Athlone to Mullingar rail line which closed in the mid-1970s. I do not blame the all-party coalition in power at the time because the tenet of the time was to close railway lines unless they could produce a significant economic outturn. That would never happen because for a railway line to be economically viable requires long distances and large populations, neither of which we have. They exist in Canada and other countries where railway lines stretch thousands of miles. We have found, however, that railways are viable and economically and socially necessary.

There is now a push to have the Athlone to Mullingar railway line reinstated and reinvigorated. To that end the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, met a broad-based all-party professional deputation last November. He told us to prepare our costings which a sub-group is doing, with the help of the Athlone Institute of Technology and Westmeath County Council. By the end of May, tomorrow, the plan will be ready and we will present it to the Minister.

If we adhere to the national spatial strategy and to the plan for gateway towns, which we will, the Athlone to Mullingar railway line needs to be implemented with stations at Athlone, Moate and Mullingar, for several reasons. The line would stretch 45 km, approximately 30 miles. The old style track was replaced by welded track during my time as Minister for Transport and a new track will be needed. It will service the communities of Castletowngeoghegan, Streamstown, Moate and Athlone.

Our aim is to have the line included in the next National Development Plan 2007-13. The Minister said, "These five gateways will be central to the development of the BMW region after 2006". He also said that the Midlands Regional Authority and its consultative executive have endorsed this plan, which is important. I compliment Westmeath County Council and the rural link in Moate which spearheaded the public meetings, the all-party members who attended to it and the Athlone Institute of Technology which gave its economic and planning expertise to the exercise.

The Minister said, "In short, the next national development plan will be an investment strategy across the key areas which will articulate the vision of where we want to be in 2013". I have made my pitch and I hope it will reach the ears of those who should hear it.