Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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250. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of the revision of the European Union Trans-European Transport Network regulation; if the western arc will be restored to the TEN-T core network; if the Government will continue to lobby the European Commission for the restoration of the western arc to the core network; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1750/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The European Commission’s review of the 2013 Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Regulation commenced in 2019 and the Commission published the results of this review in May 2021. 

This evaluation is available at the following link: eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52021SC0117  

My Department participated fully in the review process, engaging directly with the European Commission on a number of occasions during and subsequent to the review in order to ensure that any amendment to or revision of the TEN-T Regulation recognises the concerns of Ireland and the national policy developments that have occurred since the Regulation came into force in 2013. 

During these engagements, the Commission was advised that, in order to ensure alignment between national and EU policy, our position on the TEN-T rail network will be informed by the results of the ongoing all-island Strategic Rail Review. 

The Strategic Rail Review is being undertaken in co-operation with the Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland) and will inform the development of the railway sector on the Island of Ireland over the coming decades.  The Review will consider the potential scope for improved rail services along the various existing, or future potential, corridors of the network.  That scope includes the Western Rail Corridor.

In December 2021, the EU Commission published its proposal for a revised TEN-T Regulation. In this proposal, the map of the TEN-T rail network in Ireland remains largely unchanged and does not include the Western Rail Corridor. My Department is currently examining the proposal in depth to ensure that Irish concerns can be identified and addressed during the negotiation process. My Department will also be re-engaging with the European Commission regarding the final TEN-T rail network when the outcome of the All-Island Strategic Rail Review is known. 

The full text of the proposal is available here: eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2021:812:FIN