Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)
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43. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the estimated costs of providing a double rail track between Greystones and Rosslare Europort stations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36468/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy may be aware, as Minister for Transport I have responsibility for policy and overall funding of public transport in Ireland, including, in conjunction with Iarnród Éireann, in relation to the rail network. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure, including in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA).

The All-Island Strategic Rail Review was undertaken in co-operation with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. Following two public consultations, the Review’s Final Report was published in July 2024.

The Review's Final Report sets out 32 strategic recommendations to enhance and expand the rail system in Ireland and Northern Ireland up to 2050, aligning with net carbon zero commitments in both jurisdictions. The recommendations seek to transform the quality of the rail system to the benefit of passengers and wider society on the island, through additional track capacity, electrification, increased speeds, higher service frequencies and new routes.

The Review considered interventions to enable faster and more frequent journeys between Rosslare Europort and Dublin, including adding passing loops and tunnelling through Bray Head. Many of these solutions would be very costly and unlikely to be justifiable as the line would not be expected to support more than one or two trains per hour in each direction. As these interventions were not further assessed under the Review, there was no cost-benefit analysis performed.

You may be aware the DART+ Coastal South project involves an improvement to DART services on the existing DART line south of Dublin city, with the current focus on enhancing services between Bray and Greystones.

In addition, the NTA's GDA Transport Strategy 2022-2042 includes a recommendation to extend the DART service to Wicklow town. I understand this extension can be facilitated through utilising battery-electric DART carriages. The NTA is currently examining this issue with a view to progressing the extension around 2029, subject to funding and approvals.

Noting the NTA's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the Deputy's questions to the NTA for a more detailed reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.

Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)
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44. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide details of the funding provided by NTA to improve rail network and train connectivity in County Sligo in the years of 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36469/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators, in this case, Irish Rail.

The issue raised by the Deputy is therefore an operational matter for Irish Rail, in conjunction with the NTA. Therefore, I have referred the Deputy's question to them both for direct response.

Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.