Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I really welcome the National Transport Authority's Draft Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042, which was published today. We have been a long time waiting for this.

From the perspective of Navan and Meath, to read the line "The existing rail network in the GDA will be extended by the provision of a new rail line from the M3 Parkway [...] to Navan town" is just fantastic. It is the first time ever that we have seen those words written down. We have made it onto an actual transport policy for the State. The words are "will be", not "may", and not "sometime in the future". It will be extended. It is such a huge thing for a county of 200,000 people. It is a real testament to the spirit of the people of Meath, who are recognised specifically in the document by the officials on page 48 when they said that of the 4,000 submissions in total received for all of the projects in the GDA, 2,000 of those came from people in Meath "reflecting the scale of the campaign to deliver a rail service to Navan". It is something else in terms of public submissions that nearly 2,000 of the 4,000 people who made a submission did so about the rail line to Navan. I am glad that the NTA reflected the scale of the campaign in its document by actually committing and saying that yes it will be extended.

I thank Meath County Council, the local authorities and the broader community for driving this and for explaining to people that it was so important to engage in the public process.We often talk a great deal in this Chamber about public process. The people, who are the most important of all of the factors, engaged with the public process, pushed it on, and the National Transport Authority listened to our voices. It is now incumbent on us as a political system to ensure that this project is delivered in a timely fashion, that we see it happen, and that people get the infrastructure they deserve. Today has been a very significant and welcome day. I thank the NTA for its engagement with us and with the people. I thank the Cathaoirleach.