Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

503. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has had any recent contact with his Northern Ireland counterpart on the matter of upgrading the Dublin/Belfast railway line; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10205/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I have met Ministers from the Northern Ireland administration on a number of occasions, under the auspices of the North South Ministerial Council to discuss matters of mutual interest, including the development of the Dublin-Belfast service. The next meeting is scheduled to take place on 16 April 2014 and I anticipate that, in line with previous meetings, matters relating to the Dublin-Belfast rail line will be discussed.

The Dublin-Belfast rail line is one of the key rail lines on the island of Ireland as it links Ireland's two largest conurbations. Following the decision not to allocate INTERREG co-funding to the Narrow Water Bridge project, officials in both administrations, together with the Special European Programmes Body, have been working to identify suitable replacement projects, including on the Dublin-Belfast rail line, to ensure that the INTERREG funding involved is not lost to the island.