Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, to the Chamber and wish him continued success in his transport portfolio and as a Minister of State attending Cabinet. As Members will be aware, catering facilities on trains were stopped during Covid. They returned on a limited number of services, specifically Dublin to Cork. Irish Rail had committed to a full restoration of catering services by the end of 2024, but obviously that did not happen. Last month, Irish Rail and the National Transport Authority, NTA, stated that there was not sufficient funding to restore catering services. In 2025, if there is not sufficient funding to restore catering services, we need to know what is required, because it is an unacceptable answer as far as I am concerned.

Catering services are an essential and, frankly, basic part of train travel for commuters and tourists alike. Ireland is currently the only country in western Europe which does not provide catering services, which is not an acceptable standard. We want to promote public transport and make it more attractive. We are providing funding to do that in every budget, yet at the same time, we are providing rail services where people cannot get a cup of tea or coffee, something that they could do, as the Minister of State is well aware, 25, 35 or 40 years ago. It is entirely illogical. Especially for those who rarely use the train, it is the easiest way we can increase usage of public transport, as the Minister of State will be aware, by making irregular customers travel more often. For that to happen, we should aim to provide the best experience possible.

We also need to ensure that we are giving tourists the best experience in every way. Obviously tourism is an important sector for Ireland. It is a sector in which we were doing well for a long time, but we cannot take it for granted. Tourists have a basic expectation of being able to get water, a mineral or some food on trains, and we need to meet those criteria. I commute from Galway on the train and a considerable number of people who have been sitting close to me in the past 18 months have expressed surprise and disappointment, especially on the early morning trains, that they cannot get a cup of coffee, a sandwich or whatever it might be. In my opinion, there is a health and safety aspect to this, where if a person falls ill, which has happened, or if there is a medical emergency, there is not even access to a bottle of water on the train.

There has been a troubling lack of transparency on the issue. Surely the NTA or Irish Rail should be able to clarify what funding is required to restore the service so that at least all information is available, but that does not seem to be the case, or certainly the information is not being provided. I raised this previously, in 2021, and got commitments on that occasion. I have no doubt the Minister of State will be bringing good news shortly. The situation should not be tolerated for this long and I urge Government to take action to address it immediately.