John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would not dare to doubt the Leas-Chathaoirleach's impartiality. I would not dream of doubting it. It is great to have pupils from CBS Primary School in Dundalk here. They are members of the students' union council and are doing some wonderful work with Maria and Hannah.

We saw this morning that the Limerick to Foynes railway line is to be reopened. That process has started. I know the Deputy Leader is an avid rail user in order to get from Mayo to here. We need to come to a situation where we are encouraging public transport as much as possible. It is about having a dedicated strategy, aside from the rail strategy and rail review that is taking place, to look at reopening our disused and older railway lines, especially in rural areas. It is rural areas where we have to do the most to empower people and allow them to avail of public transport and climate action measures. I will mention as an example Dunleer railway station in the county I live in, Louth. Dunleer is probably one of the biggest towns, aside from Ardee, in the mid-Louth area. It does not just cater for County Louth but also for people coming from County Meath and south Monaghan. It has a very big catchment area and it is difficult for anyone in that region to have to go to either Drogheda or Dundalk to get a train. I would like to see a dedicated Government strategy being brought forward to look at reopening our rural rail services, which have been closed for more than 50 or 60 years. I am not advocating for every single rail service to be reopened but it would be very useful for large, provincial areas like County Louth and large rural towns. If we are to take this approach, it cannot just be in large towns or cities. It has to benefit all of Irish society, including rural Ireland. I would really appreciate a debate on the reopening of old, rural train stations as part of a specific strategy alongside the rail strategy. I would appreciate that debate at some stage in the future.