——is there any prospect of the £30 to £40 million being made available to CIE even to commence a coach-building programme? The company have not only informed us but also the Joint Committee on State-Sponsored Bodies that they urgently need 100 coaches to ensure that the whole passenger rail system does not fall to pieces. As the Minister knows, in his own constituency people are travelling in coaches that have been rebuilt four or five times.

I sympathise with the Deputy's concern for the whole question of the modernisation of the transport system and future employment in the relevant sectors of the coach-building industry. However, I can only repeat what I said in the final section of my reply, namely, that I pointed out that the Government had asked for details of the entire plan but that CIE had sought sanction for electrification of the suburban rail services. The only proposal currently before the Government is the one for modernising the suburban rail services. There are no proposals to discuss the rapid rail transit system or the coach-building programme to which the Deputy has referred.