Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, to the Chamber. I understand the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, is at Cabinet this morning so I appreciate her taking this matter. My question is in relation to the western rail corridor which I have raised on numerous occasions in this Chamber. Last week, quite disappointingly, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, and the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Naughton, both attended an EU meeting where they welcomed the inclusion of Galway Port and the Navan rail line onto the EU Ten-T core network map - which is basically every member state identifying what their core transport network is in the country - and they did not see fit to mention the western rail corridor or to take the opportunity to include it on the Ten-T map. The western rail corridor used to be on that map. It was removed by the former Minister for Transport, an Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, and we have been campaigned to have it on the map ever since. My question relates to what the Minister of State proposes to do to get the western rail corridor onto the Ten-T map and to the all-island rail review in which the western rail corridor is currently languishing waiting to get the green light from Government for money to get this project off the ground.

My questions then are on the western rail corridor, Ten-T network map and the all-island rail review.