Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will answer that specifically in a second. The headline is about creating sensation. I will have the Minister, Deputy Ross, come to the House because it is about ensuring that we have good-quality public transport, that we have sustainable transport links but that we have transport links for rural areas. I am not afraid to say that we have a dispersed population, but we cannot have all the growth in Dublin. Last week the Taoiseach made the point in this House that parts of Dublin are beyond the M50, which was what Senator Murnane O'Connor's contribution was about. We must go beyond Naas and have that contribution, and go east and west as well. I am not aware of plans to close any railway line. I say to Senator Leyden that the report today has been in the public domain for quite some time. It was not about a freedom of information request. As I said, it was a 2016 report.

Between 2008 and 2016 the taxpayer has made €5 billion available to the three CIÉ companies through its PSO and capital investment programme. Iarnród Éireann received €3.7 billion, which is 75% of that total Exchequer funding. The issue of rail is intrinsically linked to where people live, work and wish to travel. What we must do is to ensure that we create more jobs in rural Ireland. This is at the very core of the Government's national planning framework.I agree with what the Taoiseach said last week. Can we stop talking ourselves down and promote positivity instead? Senator Leyden referred to successes in many towns in rural Ireland. Consider the Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen, for example. Let us be positive. If we want to sell Ireland, let us not be negative. The debate is necessary but must be balanced. I ask that Members listen to last Sunday's documentary on RTÉ Radio 1 about Mr. Charlie McCreevy's Hot Pressinterview. It is like Groundhog Day now.