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

One could apply that to so many of the restrictions that are in place but we must heed the health advice. I will see if there are any ways in which we can improve. One of the ways of addressing it might be to stagger starting times. It would be an alternative way, particularly in the case of emergency workers who need to get there.

I was taken by Senator Conway's knowledge of the staff and his contact in his everyday experience. I agree with the Senator. My sense of the staff, management and board of Iarnród Éireann, led by Mr. Jim Meade, the CEO, is that they are ready for this. What I am seeing is a huge call on them to step up to the plate. It is not only in Limerick. We should be looking in Cork, for example, Midleton to Cork, where we could put in a station in Tivoli which would be hugely beneficial to the development of Cork city. In Galway, for example, twin-tracking from Athenry into the city would see development concentrate in Ardaun and those areas where we could put housing beside new rail infrastructure. The whole key is transport-led development. In Waterford, I believe even moving the station further up the Suir to the north quays would transform the development of the city at a relatively low cost. It would see a significant transport-led development opportunity of the city of Waterford on either side of the Suir and that would be transformative. I would not stop there. There is real merit in the rail line to Navan and real merit in looking at further DART and metro extensions.

I say to Senator McDowell that we will not leave south Dublin alone. We are proceeding with a study looking at the extension of metro to either Rathfarnham through Terenure direction or else through UCD towards Sandyford which would address the capacity issues on the metro line and avoid problems having to dig that up which would close the line for two or three years. Every area needs to be considered, I believe, as part of expansion of rail in this country. That is why this legislation needs to go through.