Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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227. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update to include costings, plans and progress made on the All-Island Strategic Rail Review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1195/23]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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235. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when the publication of the report Strategic Rail Review Island of Ireland is due to be launched; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1271/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 227 and 235 together.

The Strategic Rail Review is being undertaken in cooperation with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. It will inform the development of the railway sector on the Island of Ireland over the coming decades.

The Review is considering the future of the rail network with regard to the following ambitions: improving sustainable connectivity between the major cities (including the potential for higher/high-speed rail), enhancing regional accessibility, supporting balanced regional development, and rail connectivity to our international gateways. This also includes the role of rail freight.

It is important that we address constraints in the rail sector and deliver a strategy which allows rail to fulfil its potential as a sustainable mode of transport in pursuit of decarbonisation priorities, rural connectivity objectives and as a generator of prosperity for people across Ireland. 

To date, my Department has spent €1.52 million on the Review.

The Review is now at an advanced stage. Publication of the report will follow once it has been considered and approved at Ministerial level on both sides of the border.