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

That is fine. I am better informed now thanks to Senator Dolan. I will just make the point. There are subtle gains within this that we need to take into account. I agree with Senator Craughwell that part of that is having a cup of tea and actually enjoying the experience of getting the services and, as he suggested, people being able to get a return ticket. I accept that.

I hate to do it but I must disagree with Senator Dooley on one matter, although I agree with everything else he was saying. I do not agree with this idea that we go back to zero fares. What is not to like about that as a political concept? Nothing, except we need a lot of money to go into our public transport system. We have a €200 million hole in the public service obligation, PSO, budget and the numbers are going right up because we have reduced the fares. As to the idea that we would just go to zero fares, even for five years as the Senator suggested, that would take from the money we are going to need to invest in the alternative. Now that we have done the 50% fare cut for those under 24 and the 20% cut for everyone else, I strongly believe it is best to invest in greater frequency rather than going to zero fares. That is my view and I disagree with Senator Dooley on that.

Senators Doherty and Wall both mentioned the short hop. They are right that there are specific examples. We are looking at that and the Government will very shortly publish detailed proposals which I hope will address some of those concerns. There will always be a difficulty when it gets to the edge of the zone and some places are going to be at the end. However, a large number of towns are currently disadvantaged and the Senators talked about patterns in places like Sallins. That is happening so we need to address it; we are due to do so in the coming weeks and we will be giving the details of that shortly.

To answer Senator Kyne's concern about services from Tuam to Athenry, nothing we do is going to get in the way of holding the line for rail development. Any other greenway development or ancillary works are not going to interfere with the potential for us to restore a railway service on that section between Claremorris and Athenry.

Senator Blaney is right that it would be intolerable if we were not able to progress our plans because the Assembly is not restored in the North.We will have to address that if it comes. I would take up the Senator’s suggestion and travel to visit and talk to the parties up north to make sure we can publish if they cannot restore in some form. The Tánaiste and Taoiseach are working, as are all of us, to try to restore the institutions. We have to give it time but that time is not limitless. I accept the Senator's point that this Government has about 18 months and has a real opportunity to make big investment decisions in the right direction. I will take up the Senator’s suggestion if we are not able to get a restoration.

I would suggest a slight tweak. It is vital to get connectivity to Donegal. It has suffered from all that lost connectivity. I do not believe it is necessarily the Belfast-Derry route. It is a great route and a beautiful train ride but I think the real opportunity may be a spur from Portadown through Dungannon, Omagh, Strabane, Lifford and Derry to Letterkenny. Those towns are not small and would benefit from such connectivity. The advantage is it would run from Derry into Letterkenny and then give the option to go from there to Belfast or Dublin, one being a more direct route. That is the prize that I will talk to the political parties up north about if I get the chance.

Senator Conway is correct when he says the numbers are ballooning. It is not so much on commuting services, where commuting five days per week has not come back. People are working remotely, which has potential benefits. They are ballooning on weekends and on the intercity services. We are an outlier in that our public transport numbers have come back in a way other countries have not. I take the Senator's point on earlier services and greater frequency. Rather than putting the money into zero fares, I would put it into earlier trains and greater frequency. You get into a virtuous circle then, when the numbers keep rising.

Senator Carrigy's issue about where to invest in single carriageway pinch points on the network is key. There are many parts of line where the case could be made for twin-tracking, such as Limerick Junction to Limerick, Athenry to Galway or the whole Sligo line. There is a case for such investment, which improves travel time. A challenge we have is the motorway network we built, though not to every part of the country. There was significant investment in the road network over the past 30 years. It is quicker in many instances to drive so a key question is where to put the investment. In Dublin, one might want to do four-tracking out of Connolly, which would increase speed to Sligo. That is a perfect example of a line where, if we increased the speed, the line would really take off. That is a strategic question we will have to ask. With the limited resources we have, where will twin-tracking give the best advantage? In any investment in the rail network, we have to start favouring better balanced regional development, which means connectivity to the north west, west, south west and south east. Some investments should be relatively easily done because there are not huge planning problems. Often, Iarnród Éireann has access to the space. It would not be controversial in planning terms.

I cannot comment on the houses Senator Maria Byrne mentioned on the line to Foynes. She and Senator Ward said, and I very much agree, that we need to design for disability. What Senator Byrne said is true about the instances where three people in wheelchairs could not get tickets. One learns in public transport that by designing for disability, accessibility is improved for all. It could be someone in a wheelchair, someone with a buggy, etc. Senator Byrne is right on that. With anything we build and design, including new stations, the more accessible and disability-friendly, the better the service for everyone.

Senator Dolan made a fair point on Ballinasloe. Athlone has five services. It was made by a number of others. If we can enhance the service for those living in Ballinasloe and working in Dublin or Galway and commuting two or three times a week, give them the capability of doing that and make sure there is a space on the train, that would create a virtuous circle for our beautiful 19th-century market towns - town centre first - including Ballinasloe or any town around the network. We could increase the frequency so everyone doing that takes the train rather than drives. Senator Wall referred to the N7 being blocked. That is the other reason. We need this to do for climate but also for the simple mathematics. If everyone drives, even on that road which is almost of California-Los Angeles dimensions, it will not work. We made it an eight-lane highway and, lo and behold, it is clogged, as Senator Wall said, from 7 a.m until 10 a.m. Some say it is a crazy investment in rail and does not make sense but in a country like Ireland which is booming and whose population and economy are growing, relying on a car-based system will never work. We have to switch. Switching to rail, as well as bus and cycling, is the right way to do it. I heard common consensus on that today.