Climate Action Plan
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Peadar Tóibín (AON), Meath West

Hundreds of thousands of people are living in commuter hell in this country. Hundreds of thousands of people are now spending four hours a day travelling to and from work. They are being charged higher taxes on their fuel and higher tolls for the pleasure of doing this. In Meath, 60,000 people have no option but to use their cars because of the lack of public transport. The Taoiseach's friend Noel Dempsey promised in 1994 that a rail line would be built. There is no construction date and no ring-fenced funding for the project. It has not been listed in the Government's national development plan for construction to start before 2030. The planning is on the go for sure but completion at the very earliest will be in 2036. That is 42 years from concept to completion. A person who started work when Noel Dempsey promised this project will have retired before the project is even finished, and that is if there are no judicial reviews or any change in the economy in the meantime. Will the Taoiseach commit to a construction date before 2030, or at the very least, will he commit that the Navan to Drogheda rail line, which is a fully functional rail line, will be retasked and repurposed for passenger use?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-17