Rail Network
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-13
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Alan Dillon (FG), Mayo

Again, I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue this evening. I will relay the key important points that the Deputy raised to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien.
As I stated earlier, to recap some of the recent developments within the DART+ South West project, the NDP sectorial investment plan for transport was published in November last. It enables advancements of various elements of the DART+ programme, including DART+ West. The roll-out of the new DART+ fleet, which is currently undergoing safety testing, will progress from 2027 onwards and will allow the cascade of the existing train fleet to service new areas on the national rail network. We will also see the redeployment of this fleet in a manner for Iarnród Éireann and the National Transport Authority to decide on the basis of a range of factors and this has the potential for some of that fleet to be deployed to DART+ South West lines. That, indeed, will add additional capacity in advance in the infrastructure upgrades.
To the Deputy's point that this is about funding, the Department will continue to explore opportunities for additional funding, including through funding streams such as the European Union Connecting Europe Facility, CEF, to complement national Exchequer funding. The NDP will again be reviewed around 2028 and updated at that point. This will also provide an additional opportunity to examine the potential to provide additional funding to additional projects, as the Deputy stated earlier, through the DART+ South West programme.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-13/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-13