asked the Minister for the Environment if he has been consulted by the Department of Tourism and Transport regarding the proposal by CIE to electrify suburban rail systems in the Dublin area; and, if so, the recommendations he has made regarding those representations.

Inter-departmental consultation on all kinds of policy matters is part of the normal administrative process of the public service. It is not the practice, nor would it be appropriate, to publish the views offered by individual Ministers on issues which are the responsibility of a particular Minister or which, in certain instances, are matter for decision by the Government.

While it is not my wish particularly to have access to private decisions made between Departments, can the Minister say whether his Department were consulted on this specific issue?

My Department were consulted but as I said in the reply it is not the practice to give the views or the observations of individual Ministers.

I must apologise to the Minister. I understood from his original reply that general consultations take place from time to time. I was not aware that he had said that specific consultations took place on this matter.

There were inter-departmental consultations in regard to it.

Did these take place on a number of occasions?

Yes.

Consequently, would the Minister have regard to the representations made by CIE on this matter when he is looking at the whole question of transportation in the Dublin region and not consider in isolation the proposal for roads development?

The views of CIE would be taken into consideration in considering the proposals.

Would the Minister have regard, too, to the job-creation content implicit in the proposals?

Yes.

Has the Minister made representations to the Minister for Economic Planning and Development in regard to the job-creation content of this proposal, a proposal that has been before the Department for at least a year?

I have not made any recent representation to the Minister concerned but we are in consultation regularly.

Finally——

We have had enough supplementaries on that question.

Is the Minister disposed to the idea of the electrification of the rail system?

It is not for me to say whether I am so disposed.

Why not?

Question No. 13.