This morning saw a new twist in public service broadcasting when the nation was informed by RTE radio of the decision by Irish Rail to close down DART services for 18 months with four days notice. Surely, this is commercial lunacy as we approach the busiest period of the year. It begs the question of who is really in charge of the running of the country and our public services when it is announced on behalf of a major State agency that it is intended to discommode 90,000 commuters every weekend for the next 18 months. When did the Government become aware of this plan and why did Irish Rail fail to make it public long before now? Why did Irish Rail fail to involve itself with those customers, commuters and retailers who will be discommoded? What contingency plans have been put in place?

Despite the fact that a spokesman said that for two Saturdays the lines will remain open, as we approach the time when the Taoiseach will take over the Presidency of the European Union and shops are already filling with Christmas goods, the numbers referred to will vastly exceed 90,000 over weekends in the run-up to Christmas. Will the Taoiseach indicate when he found out about this matter, the reason it was kept secret and the contingency plans that are in place to allow for the smooth running of public affairs?

The improvements to DART and commuter rail services will involve an investment of €176 million which is necessary to facilitate the operation of eight-carriage DART and commuter trains, accessibility to mobility impaired customers, delivery of 40 new DART carriages and an increase in peak passenger capacity of over 30%. The work is due to commence on the southern section of the line this weekend and will continue until June 2004. Work on the city centre and northside routes will commence after the work on the southern route is completed, presumably the second half of next year.

The work schedule is planned to avoid affecting customers on busy weekdays. It will commence on Friday nights, after the last DART, and work will continue around the clock through to early Monday morning. In other words, a week's work will be done in one weekend. Those are the arrangements.

The most efficient and value for money option is to close a large chunk of the network at a time as the power has to be shut down to undertake work on the overhead lines. Iarnród Éireann has advised that normal services will be provided on the two Saturdays before Christmas, the two busiest shopping weekends of the year. Extra bus services will be provided by Bus Éireann adjacent to the affected routes. Apparently those arrangements have been put in place.

The Minister for Transport has requested the chairman of CIE to examine the possibility of maintaining DART services during the three weeks in December before Christmas. The Minister has also requested the chairman to further consider suspending the start-up of the necessary upgrading work and to carry out this work during the days after Christmas and early in the new year, which traditionally is a quiet time for transport services, and on weekends when DART services could be suspended for a period of seven days.

I understand CIE indicated in March that it intended to undertake this upgrading work. There appears to be some disagreement as to whether it indicated a period during which the work would be started. I understand that was not made clear to commuters in the past few weeks but I believe it was put into the public domain in the spring that it would commence this work in the autumn.

The Taoiseach rightly referred to improvements on the DART line. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, to whom Irish Rail is responsible, is the man who does not miss an opportunity for promotion of himself, his Department and his vision. He was present when the boring machine broke through from Fairview.

The Deputy is not too shy himself.

He was present when the bridge was put up in Dundrum. He was able to change the confusing signs for motorists last year. I am astounded to think he has invited CIE to reconsider commencing this work. When he was informed by CIE as to its plans, this matter should have been discussed in public with the people who will be discommoded every weekend. Today, retailers said they will be at a loss of €300 million because of this work. What is the position of those who have paid €76 for monthly tickets and €750 for annual tickets? How will they be dealt with? Where are the buses that will become available? Why are they not on the streets now? Has Irish Rail suddenly purchased a new fleet of buses to deal with the effect of the DART not being run at weekends for the next 18 months? It begs the question as to who is in charge.

The Deputy's time has concluded. I call the Taoiseach. Allow the Taoiseach to reply.

Will the Taoiseach confirm that there will be 24 hour contracts and, as happened in the country, the lines will remain open during the day and closed at night for continuous work? If they can be kept open for two weekends, does that not indicate that a more streamlined way could be found of doing this work? Is this another example of a semi-State company doing its business without clarity of direction from the Minister responsible?

The argument is about when the work started and the notice given. I hope there is no argument about the work that needs to be done. This work will take cars off the road and increase the capacity of the DART from 11,000 passengers per hour to 16,000 per hour. The work is necessary. It is a large part of the company's capital programme. To be fair to CIE, I understand it made clear in the spring that the work would start in the autumn although it did not make clear until recent days that it would start now. For that reason, the Minister made the two points that they should avoid December and, if possible, the period until after Christmas because people did not get sufficient notice.

The question most citizens have asked about Luas is why people are not working late into the night and at weekends. In this instance, the work will start after the last DART on a Friday night and continue through the entire weekend until early Monday morning. I do not believe people will quibble with that. The short notice is the issue and I have stated that the Minister has asked that these issues be examined. While there has been an enormous amount of capital expenditure on buses, it would mean CIE having extra routes and additional people working at key times on weekends in those locations but the work has to be done. The Minister will report back on whether it can be adjusted around the Christmas period but there is a significant benefit for commuters once this job is finished.