Rail report and regional transport
Deputy Cannon pressed for publication of a report on extending rail services and urged sustainable regional rail investment. The Tánaiste said the report was with the Minister for Transport and agreed that commuter rail improvements, including in the west, made sense.
The programme for Government contains a commitment to balanced regional development, in particular the delivery of sustainable transport solutions across the regions. Those transport solutions need to be sustainable from an environmental and economic perspective. We are making fundamental decisions as to how we invest in rail infrastructure, in particular in the west of Ireland over the coming years.
We are doing that without all the information we require. The former Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross, commissioned a report on the viability of extending a rail service from Athenry to Claremorris on the long disused western rail corridor. He did not succeed in publishing that, despite the fact that it was presented to Irish Rail over a year ago by the consultants involved, which were paid a significant amount of money to carry out that review. With a new Minister for Transport in place, we have still not seen the findings of that report. If we are to make those investments we need to do so armed with all of the information necessary.
Comment on this
I thank the Deputy. I understand that report is with the Minister for Transport. I am sure he will publish it in the near future. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is very keen on the development of commuter rail in cities like Cork, Limerick and Galway. It makes a lot of sense. I know Deputy Cannon is an advocate of twin tracking and improving the services to Athenry and Oranmore. It is a good idea and where we should focus our rail investment.