Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. Today I want to plant a seed. I fully appreciate that there are issues in Irish Rail concerning existing infrastructure. I very much hope the Labour Court recommendation will bring about a resolution in Irish Rail. I am a great believer in public transport, especially rail transport, which I use. It has enormous potential. Broadband and mobile telephone coverage on trains need to be improved. What I have done today in proposing a spur from Shannon Airport to the existing Limerick-Galway rail link is plant a seed.

It is a project for the future. It is a question of looking outside the box, perhaps running a line alongside the existing motorway, the M18, or using land that may already be in public ownership along the route. Such land might have been acquired by the NRA many years ago. The proposal is very much to the fore.

With the M20, the Minister was willing to think outside the box and allow TII to get pre-planning under way. I have not before seen a Minister doing that. The proposal I am putting forward is in the same vein. I commend the Minister on the M20. I hope my proposal finds its way to becoming a project in the future based on proper, balanced regional development. Would it not be fantastic if people wishing to fly to Dublin, whom I hope would stay in Limerick because it is my home city, but who did not want to face the chaos of Dublin Airport flew into Shannon and got a train there with a view to being in Dublin in an hour and a half? That is what I am thinking outside the box. I am planting a seed.