Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will respond to some of the comments and questions. I thank Senators for their support for the Bill. Senator Dooley does not need to apologise for focusing on the local, be it in Crusheen, Ballycar or anywhere else because all politics is local and all safety is local. I assure the Senator that I will be looking at extending that line from Ennis up to Galway and not stopping at Athenry. Consider the potential if we develop a rail freight connection at Foynes and develop a section of rail from Athenry to Claremorris. That could open up the west of Ireland to enormous development opportunities. That line could carry freight as well as additional commuters and long-distance travellers.

In accept the point made by Senator Boyhan. It does not sit comfortably with me that we are presenting this Bill in the timeline set out. I have outlined the reason for that but that is not an excuse and I accept his point. We need to give the Oireachtas time to debate and consider legislation in detail, even technical Bills like this one. I will attempt to avoid similar circumstances arising in the future.

I absolutely agree with Senator McGahon on the issue of a high speed connection to Belfast and Derry. Our colleagues at the North-South Ministerial Council made the case for not stopping at Belfast but connecting on to Derry, which is important. We need to be really ambitious now because we have incredibly challenging climate change targets. They are beyond compare and will require us to radically change our entire transport system beyond anything anyone expects. Project Ireland 2040 is no longer an option; it will have to be Project 2050 and massive investment in sustainable modes of transport if we are going to do what we have committed to do, which is zero net emissions by 2050. I would love to hear how Senators think that might best be done. One of the projects for next year is working out how we will reach our targets. We will have to go way beyond Project Ireland 2040. We will have to draw up a new Project Ireland 2050 and net zero emissions and regional development, including the development of cities like Derry, would be centre-stage in my own ambitions.

In response to Senator Gavan, I would say the same about Limerick but would argue for heavy rather than light rail. The Foynes line is already in existence and Iarnród Éireann could develop it relatively quickly. We could put a station into Adare at the same time as building the freight connection to Foynes. We could put stations in Patrickswell and Crescent and run the line right into the centre of Limerick. The Senator knows those areas which have growing populations. Such a development would transform Limerick.