Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister; it is good to see him here. When we are talking about railway safety, investment is very much linked to that. As my colleague said, we will be supporting this important technical Bill.

I will highlight the situation in Limerick and, in particular the Ballybrophy-Castleconnell-Limerick line. The Government has invested in that line and upgraded the track but it has not given permission for the trains to go any faster. It still takes two hours to get to Ballybrophy from Limerick and it takes 40 minutes to go from my village, Castleconnell, to the city centre in Limerick. We need progress on that. It comes up in the headlines in terms of how much it costs each year for the taxpayer. The point is that if we get it right it will be useful and progressive way of getting in and out of Limerick city, not just from County Limerick but from County Tipperary as well.

On a related point, this Bill covers light rail networks. Sinn Féin has championed the cause of the light rail network for Limerick. The reason is that Limerick is uniquely qualified because CIÉ still owns track right around the city. I am surprised we have not seen Green Party support so far for this initiative. I call on the Minister to investigate that because we are planning for the population to double in Limerick between 2020 and 2040. A light rail network is justified and we need to be ambitious for our city.