Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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50. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on the progress being made in implementing the All-Ireland Strategic Rail Review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42047/24]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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72. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when the implementation plan following the publication of the All-Island Rail Strategy will be published; the criteria which were given to the consultants in drawing up this plan in relation to ensuring balanced regional development; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41628/24]

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Can the Minister provide an update on the progress being made in implementing the All-Island Strategic Rail Review? We welcomed the fact that there was an increase in services. In my part of the world we definitely welcome the fact that the Belfast-Dublin service was becoming hourly. We have then had a number of revisions of timetables because there has been an element of chaos. I welcome what Iarnród Éireann has said and that it will be able to deliver on that service and sort those issues out. We then have wider issues on delivering rail connectivity and we really need to get down to business.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 50 and 72 together.

As the Deputy may be aware, the All-Island Strategic Rail Review was undertaken in co-operation with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. Following two public consultations, the review’s final report was published on 31 July 2024.

The review's final report sets out 32 strategic recommendations to enhance and expand the rail system in Ireland and Northern Ireland up to 2050, aligning with net carbon zero commitments in both jurisdictions. The recommendations seek to transform the quality of the rail system to the benefit of passengers and wider society on the island, through additional track capacity, electrification, increased speeds, higher service frequencies and new routes.

The final review report will inform the development of rail on the island of Ireland in the coming decades to 2050. It should be noted that the individual projects referred to in the report will be subject to funding and relevant approvals as required under the infrastructure guidelines in Ireland.

Assisted by the European Investment Bank, the Department of Transport, the Department for Infrastructure and agencies North and South are working to progress the report's recommendations in the years ahead. This includes a more detailed identification of rail priorities to pursue over the next decade. A report on this matter is expected to be published in the coming weeks. Progress on following up on the rail review will be reported on as appropriate through the North-South Ministerial Council.

Regarding Deputy Ó Cuív's query on the criteria used to identify projects to be advanced in the first decade of the review, this analysis is being informed by criteria such as the goals of the rail review and the national investment framework for transport in Ireland, which both aim for enhanced regional and rural connectivity as a goal. Hence, it is expected that this work will take account of the issue of balanced regional development.

Deputies are aware the rail review was not looking at the metropolitan areas. It does not relate to the Dublin metro, DART+ projects or Cork metropolitan rail. It is important, when considering the funding now, that many projects have to happen in Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick as well as in Dublin. As I have said, we have engaged with the consultancy arm of the European Investment Bank and I expect to be able to bring the report to the Government in the coming weeks. It is looking at this next decade and what we do first. This is a multi-decade investment strategy. It is not completed but I expected it may show that work in metropolitan rail investment must continue apace and accelerate. There are many other projects we can invest in relatively quickly and at relatively low cost which will provide significant enhancements in speeds and service. These include passing loops throughout the main lines of network.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Go raibh maith agat.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will conclude as I have a minute of speaking time remaining. This will give us time to start ramping up what I see as key strategic projects, many of which have already started. There is the likes of the western rail corridor where we have started clearing the line this year. There is also building a rail link to Shannon, which refers back to what we said earlier about how we get better balanced regional development and arrive at a situation where not everything goes through Dublin. A critical piece of infrastructure such as this would be essential for the development of Limerick as well as Shannon.

There is opening the rail line from Rosslare to Waterford, which would have the benefit of creating a metropolitan rail system in the south east. We could have the new battery electric trains, which are arriving next week for testing and trial runs, running from Waterford to Carrick-on-Suir, Cahir, Kilkenny or Wexford.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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In this way we could create a cluster.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I apologise to interrupt the Minister but he may contribute again and there are a number of speakers, including Deputy Ó Cuív whose question No. 72 is included in this group.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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We all welcome that the rail review has been done. We know the large deficits there are. We know that at one stage we had a large level of rail infrastructure which was then lifted. There are great expanses in the State where we do not have rail. Earlier, we spoke about Donegal. If we look at the entire west all the way up to Donegal, we see the absolute lack of connectivity. It is necessary that we look at all of the projects the Minister has detailed. The problem is the State does not have a great history of delivering projects due to issues relating to planning, funding and overruns. It is about making sure it happens. We saw lately that when we did have an expansion of services in the general metropolitan area, and wider when we take in the Dublin to Belfast connection, there were issues.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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We need to make sure the planning is put in place. The Minister mentioned quick wins.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Thank you, Deputy. We will try to get everybody in.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The low-cost quick wins need to happen as soon as possible and we need to have a planned timeline and details.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. We want to try to get everybody in and, hopefully, the Minister will reply to everybody.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad the Minister made reference to quick wins. In my view they could have been done in the past four years without any rail strategy. They include passing loops. Throughout the system we are getting caught with bottlenecks because trains cannot pass each other and we cannot increase the frequency. It does not take any great eye strain to work out these things must be dealt with and should have been dealt with. We spend too much time cogitating about things and too little time just doing them. Is the Minister saying that this year there will be a cleaning of the line, preparatory to developing the rail line from Athenry to Claremorris? Perhaps I misheard him. I would like clarification on that. I was looking at the timings for reopening the line to Foynes. It is a tedious job, even though it was given all of the money needed. It is a slow job. The early jobs include clearing the lines, doing the assessment, working out what work needs to be done and starting on the bridges. There is very little expenditure in the first few years. There needs to be an absolute commitment for an early start to the western rail corridor in view of the aim of achieving balanced regional development.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Thank you, Deputy.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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Twice in his response the Minister mentioned balanced regional development. Then he went on to tell us about projects in Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick as well as Dublin. There was no mention of Sligo. My question is about the Sligo to Dublin rail line. There are two issues that are crucial. We need a train to arrive in Sligo, at least from Longford or Carrick-on-Shannon, for approximately 8.30 a.m. for students and workers so that people can use public transport. There is a need for this service. There is a lot of talk in the strategic rail review of having four tracks near Heuston and Connolly stations. This is perfect but double tracking is needed on certain parts of the Sligo rail line. I am very disappointed that, once again, the north west has been left out when it comes to balanced regional development.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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With regard to the review of rail services I want to ask about access to railway stations. At Clongriffin station there is an urgent need to provide safe, universal and permanent access for commuters from Baldoyle. The temporary access, which the Minister visited earlier this year, was opened in 2010 and has yet to be replaced with permanent access. For 14 years, the local community has been left waiting. A few days ago, a man was attacked there coming home from work at 8 p.m. Many people in the local community simply do not feel safe using the station after dark or even in daylight. It is completely unacceptable that people do not feel safe or cannot access their local public transport and railway service. Will the Minister instruct the NTA to CPO the land to provide permanent safe and universal access?

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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I welcome the Minister's comments on the Athenry to Claremorris project and the Limerick to Shannon project, for which I have been advocating for some years. I am delighted it is on the agenda. I strongly believe these should be among the highest priorities of the Government to deliver. They are not complex or difficult projects and they are not expensive projects. They should be pursued with urgency. I have a concern we might begin to speak about business cases and feasibility studies. A decision needs to be made that we get on with these. The obvious benefit is there for balanced regional development. I do not know how the Minister factors this in to any analysis or public spending code. A decision should be made and they should happen. I am concerned about the national planning framework. The targets contained in the draft do not support these projects sufficiently. The national planning framework targets and the narrative in the national planning framework need to be reviewed before the document is finalised, such that they support these types of fundamentally positive projects.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will try to answer all of the questions. I will begin with Deputy Ó Murchú's questions. The next Government and the one after it will have to recognise that we do not have the funding for everything. We are going to have to make some hard choices. To my mind, the choice should continue to be the prioritisation of public transport. The real benefit is that it will bring us housing development that is sustainable and more economic and in line with the national planning framework. We have to invest in public transport to make our housing solutions work. This means making hard choices. We should favour the rail, bus and active travel options.

I very much appreciate and support what Deputy Ó Cuív said. He said if we are going to look at the next ten years now, in the first five years we should focus on the quick wins, such as putting in passing loops throughout the country.

These would enhance existing capacity at a relatively low cost and a relatively quick speed.

I thought clearance had already started on the line from Claremorris to Athenry. I will have to check that.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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It did.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will have to disagree with the Deputy regarding the Foynes experience. It is possible to work very quickly when we work in this way because we are not caught in planning. Irish Rail turned around the Foynes line really quickly and I hope it can do the same on the western rail corridor.

Regarding Deputy Harkin's question, I accept the need to improve access to the north west. Much of the investment on the existing mainline network I mentioned is designed to do that.

In response to Deputy O'Callaghan, as a later parliamentary question relates to Clongriffin station, I will come back to the issue then rather than using the time now.

On Deputy Leddin's point, I mentioned the three cases of the western rail corridor, the rail line to Shannon and the reopening of the Rosslare line because they are the only three new lines we will be putting in as part of this whole strategy. It is important they come centre stage because they are key strategic elements in rebalancing the country. We have an imbalanced transport system, with a huge proportion of investment going into the east. We do need to balance it out, and these three sections, along with the other investments in the north west as well as elsewhere, will be critical and need to get priority. Otherwise, we will not get housing or economic development in a balanced way.

There is still a need to do business cases. It would still take time even if we were going ahead straightaway. It is better to indicate that it will be in the second part of this decade that those projects will start to be built and delivered. In truth, the reality, which we all know, is that it takes time to get developments through our project appraisal system and planning system. This process needs to accelerate because these projects are needed as soon as we can possibly deliver them.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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What we need to do is fairly straightforward. We need to first determine what the plan is and what we are going to prioritise. We must then ensure we get those quick wins, and that can then be followed up. We all know the huge benefits that result when we ensure connectivity across this State. Everyone has spoken about passing loops and the issues caused. Even the issue I spoke about previously, while it does not necessarily relate to the all-island rail review, was linked with the lack of extra lines and passing loops and the logjams we have in and around Dublin. We must ensure the work done on this matter is done as soon as possible. We must also upgrade the Dublin to Belfast line and ensure we have the correct rolling stock in place to deliver the service across the board, but particularly the Enterprise service. That said, it is about planned funding and then priorities.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am glad Irish Rail was able to adjust the timetable on the eastern corridor because it was inconveniencing commuters. I hope the change will bring the schedule back on track. We are investing significantly in the east coast. As I said, the first line to be part of this new electrified rail system will be that running to Drogheda, which will see the use of new battery electric trains. We are putting major investment into Drogheda to upscale the power system to be able to run the battery electric trains there. Similarly, I believe we can accelerate, deliver and get those same teams working seamlessly on putting in what is a relatively easy upgrade in Wicklow station to install an electric charging point. This would allow battery electric trains to be run to Wicklow. This would transform what is a constrained area in terms of travel from Wicklow to Dublin.

While I agree that we need to build the infrastructure in the north west and the western rail corridor will help in this regard, as will investment in the Sligo line, we need to build up our other cities - Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick - as counterbalances to Dublin. This means investment is needed in those cities. Coming back to the funding issue, the funding is not there for the public transport projects we need in Galway, Cork, Waterford and Limerick, or for town bus services right across the country.

The next Government will face hard choices. People who think we can do everything will have to answer honest questions about whether they will prioritise public transport and spend the money now on public transport in the same way we have done on motorways over the last two decades so we can turn our country around in a way that is more sustainable and has better balanced regional development.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Compared to the processes in place between 2000 and 2010 when we built a lot of basic infrastructure such as rail lines, roads, etc., those in place now seem now to have become forever processes. I support Deputy Leddin in saying that some things are so obvious that we are wasting time just putting paper together, filling out forms and doing studies that do not need to be done. I could never understand the system delaying over the obvious. Does the Minister agree that the biggest inflator of costs is not a lack of processes but the processes themselves? Delay is adding huge costs to infrastructure. Infrastructure built now compared to five years ago is enormously more expensive. The systems designed to save money, allegedly, are actually costing us a fortune. Does the Minister agree with that analysis of how we have created a system that is actually defeating its own purpose?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I agree with the Deputy 100%.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Good.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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It is the stop-start nature of it. The proof of this can be found when we look at what happens when we do not do things that way. If we look at when we built out the motorways programme, which was done in a strategic way, with long-term certainty, money guaranteed and contractors knowing they had two decades of work, we see we were, in international comparative terms, able to deliver relatively lower costs, on time and to high quality. We now need to do the same in the area of public transport. We have created a car-dependent country that in the end will not work. As well as being unsustainable environmentally, it will grid-lock.

The strategic rail review has a critical role to play because it is taking this three-decade approach. If we all agree that we need to make these investments, we will give a signal to Irish Rail and contractors that this work is coming. By having a modular system, with the same sorts of platforms, passing loops and electrification process, we know there will be a multi-annual programme that will make it modular, regular and quicker, thereby reducing the cost. The Deputy is right. The fundamental question for the next Government is whether it will be willing to continue in the direction this Government has started. We have switched to public transport and active travel. The question will be whether the next Government will be willing to give that certainty. If it does not, and we get caught in processes, we will go nowhere, it will be very expensive and it will take years. Political certainty is probably the most important thing to overcome the process obstacle the system tends to cling on to.