Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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21. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the timeframe to publish the rail review (details supplied); the actions he plans to take to remedy the issues that were raised two years ago by the NTA's review in order to ensure that Iarnród Éireann is sufficiently funded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7716/18]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The Rail Review Report was undertaken jointly by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Iarnród Éireann and was published in 2016.

The purpose of the Review was:

- to look at the existing rail network;

- to identify the funding required both to maintain the network and to provide for necessary capital works;

- and to consider the gap in funding.

Since the Rail Review was published, there have been significant developments in relation to the level of funding available for rail investment and services.

Budget 2017 allocated over €50m in additional funding to Irish Rail in 2017 bringing the total (current plus capital) funding for the year to the company to over €300m. This significant increase in funding allowed for increasing investment in maintenance and renewal of the network and the rolling stock, and also to provide more funding for safety projects.

In Budget 2018 I secured an 8% increase in the overall Exchequer funding for PSO services across both the bus and rail networks. That means that a total of over €285 million will be allocated in 2018 to support the delivery of these socially necessary but financially unviable services across the public transport companies. Budget 2018 also provided for an increase in the multi-annual capital investment for public transport with a four-year capital envelope of €2.7 billion over the period 2018-2021.  This represents a 30% increase over the original Capital Plan allocations for 2018-2021 and includes investment of over €1 billion in heavy rail maintenance and infrastructure.

The public consultation process held by the NTA following the publication of the Rail Review in 2016 helped to begin an informed discussion about the current and future role of rail transport in Ireland. Over 300 submissions were received in response to that consultation process. The NTA has prepared a report of those submissions, which it recently updated to reflect the additional funding which has been made available for rail infrastructure and services in Budget 2018.

The NTA’s updated report on the consultation was received by my Department yesterday. Once I have reviewed it, my intention is to bring the updated report to Government for consideration.  I would expect that the report would be published thereafter by the NTA.