I raise with the Tánaiste today the urgent need for additional carriages and hourly train services on the Waterford to Dublin line, which runs through my hometown of Athy. I have been raising this issue for the last number of years and I just want to read to the Tánaiste today from an email I got this morning from Eimear, who at the time was on the 7.15 a.m. Waterford to Heuston service. She said there were 18 people standing in the gap by the doors on the second-last carriage this morning. Two of them were retired people, very unsteady on their feet, who kept stumbling and were struggling to hold onto the train as it moved up and down. They had free travel passes, while Eimear had a tax saver ticket through work. After the train stopped in Newbridge, a further 12 people were standing in the same spaces.

This is happening too often. It is happening too often because there is only one early morning service from my hometown of Athy. So many people have come to live there and that is what is happening regularly. I ask the Tánaiste to request of the Minister for Transport that we get more carriages on that particular line before we have a very serious accident.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of the need for additional train carriage capacity serving his hometown of Athy on that Waterford to Dublin line. I thank Eimear for contacting Deputy Wall and providing that live lived experience from a train service this morning.

I will certainly speak with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and ask that he engage with Irish Rail on the matter and come back to the Deputy directly.