Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this matter on the adjournment of the House. While I welcome the Minister for State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Pat The Cope Gallagher, I am disappointed the Minister for Transport is not here. That is no reflection on the Minister of State, who knows exactly the situation in Donegal. He knows that one should be able to get on a train in Derry and arrive in Dublin. It is the people who live outside the general Donegal area that I would like to awaken to the fact that one can now physically get on a train in Derry and arrive in Dublin. However, there are difficulties with the line, particularly from Derry to Coleraine and there are difficulties with the lack of political will to resolve the issue.

I have been raising this issue since Deputy Mary O'Rourke was Minister for Transport, which is some time ago. I have been trying to get people to understand the concept of Dublin to Derry, not just Dublin to Belfast, as the full line. There have been great improvements on the Dublin to Belfast line. The Enterprise is a supreme service and investment in the Dublin to Belfast section of the line is continuing, which is to be welcomed. However, it is happening at the expense of the Belfast to Derry section of the line.

I ask the Minister of State to relay the facts to the Department of Transport and I challenge those involved in the North-South Ministerial Council, on both sides, to explain why they can talk about Dublin to Belfast but cannot talk about Dublin to Derry. I know that if it gets as far as Derry, we can then examine the possibility of bringing it back into Donegal. Others are talking about linking train services from the west to Donegal, ultimately linking, I would like to think, with the service in Derry.

Some may ask why I am not fighting the corner for Dublin to Donegal at this point. It is simply that results can be achieved very quickly on the section of the line to which I am referring. It has been recorded by Translink that more than 1 million passengers use the Derry to Belfast line. It has been recommended by consultants that £64 million be spent on the line. Out of the £64 million, £23.5 million has been promised to be spent on it. However, the actual figure earmarked is £12 million. This £12 million is to be used to upgrade the section from Ballymena to Coleraine. The line will be closed during this time and shuttle buses will be used for this route instead. Many people feel this could ultimately impact on the number of people using the service, but they do not want to stand in the way of progress.

The Minister for Regional Development in Northern Ireland, Mr. Conor Murphy stated that investment in the line from Coleraine to Derry is key. However, he also stated there is no money for this. The Northern lreland Government has £18 billion to be spent on infrastructure in the next ten years. In that context, why is there no money in the budget for upgrading the track?

The Minister says they must raise the money, and if they do so, the upgrade can be carried out in 2011. If the money is found it will mean the line will be closed again while repairs are carried out. Translink says it does not have the equipment or staff to upgrade the Ballymena to Coleraine section and the Derry to Coleraine section at the same time. However I have been led to believe that Iarnród Éireann has the necessary equipment and staff to do this and the equipment is currently lying idle in Dublin.

The Derry to Coleraine track is a jointed one, but what is needed is a welded one. New trains on this route cannot get up to speed, and some travel at speeds as low as 20 mph. That is one of the core problems. It is faster to take the bus from Derry to Dublin than it is to take the train.

At the last North-South Ministerial Council meeting in January, the possibility of both Governments coming together to buy trains for the Belfast to Derry route was raised and a decision will be made at the next meeting in May. I ask that the decision be taken, not only with regard to new trains but also with regard to the upgrading of the track because it has been proven that where improvements are made, they yield a significant increase in the numbers of people who use trains.

The ILEX regeneration board plans to build a new railway station in Ebrington. The chief executive of the ILEX board has taken on the demands of the Into The West group and has agreed to leave enough room to build a track across the Foyle to Donegal. This is a tran-jurisdictional corridor and is eligible for funding under the Tran European Network System, TENS. I ask the Department to confirm that this is the same funding body that funded the upgrading of a section of the Cork to Dublin line recently. Apparently, that upgrade was funded because it was stated it was on the Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Larne line. If that is the case, it is a scandal that the Minister for Regional Development in Northern Ireland cannot fight the corner for Derry to Belfast, as part of the Derry, Belfast, Dublin link. It is also a scandal that we are not using European funds that have been available for this for the past number of years and delivering what is needed.

I reiterate the point that this is not about a new train service, new planning, a new line or compulsory purchase orders on people's lands. It is about a number of passing points for the existing train service and a matter of replacing a jointed train line with a welded one.

I would expect a negative answer or for this issue to be put on the long finger were it a complicated matter, such as the suggestion of an overall package of an all-island train service, but not at the level of complexity described. I am asking that the prevarication stop in respect of the current service and the two stations, York Street and Central Station. If it is good enough for the Cork-Dublin line, it is good enough for the north west.

When I raised this issue previously, people told me that there are flights to Derry and Carrickfinn, a planned road through Aughnacloy and bus services and asked me why I would want a train service. The childish argument would be that, if everyone else can have one, so can we. The north west needs access and infrastructural development and there is a simple answer. The amount of money is not significant in the scheme of things, with €64 million being the most required. Some €23 million has been promised and, a number of months ago, I attended the announcement at Stormont by Rev. Ian Paisley, MLA, of a further €12 million.

I am not asking for the impossible. It is no reflection on the Minister of State that the Minister for Transport, Deputy Dempsey, will have the facts when he returns to the North-South Ministerial Council, the issue I raised on the Order of Business. There are council meetings on education, health, transport and so on, but we are not getting feedback so that we can give our own feedback. European funding is available and I ask that it be spent in the north west.