Rail Network
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-25
============================================================

Seán Canney (IND), Galway East

I thank Deputy O'Connor for raising this important issue. As Minister of State with responsibility for rail, I thank him for the opportunity to address the House on this issue today.
The National Transport Authority, NTA, has responsibility for planning and developing public transport infrastructure and for developing the Cork metropolitan area transport strategy, CMATS. This strategy has been developed by the NTA in collaboration with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Cork City Council and Cork County Council. A key principle for CMATS is to reduce dependency on the private car within the Cork metropolitan area while increasing the appeal of sustainable transport options, such as Cork area commuter rail, light rail and BusConnects Cork.
As part of this process, the route from Midleton to Youghal was earmarked for development as a greenway, and the final phase of the greenway opened in December 2024. CMATS will be reviewed and updated every six years. As part of this process, the optimal transport provision in the area, including between Midleton and Youghal, can be reconsidered. The next review of CMATS is expected to commence later this year. As part of this review there will be a number of public consultations, giving stakeholders the opportunity to voice their opinion on the matter. I encourage all stakeholders to participate in this important process.
In addition to CMATS, the all-island strategic rail review, which was published in July 2024, 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.
A proposal to develop a line between Midleton and Waterford along the south coast was examined as part of the review but, ultimately, this route was not included in the final recommendations of the report. Analysis undertaken as part of the review indicated that it would likely be more cost-effective to route longer distance services between Cork and Waterford via improved railways between both cities and Limerick Junction, rather than on a new line. One of the review's recommendations is that the review be updated once a decade, taking into account the latest policies and developments. The potential for the Midleton to Waterford line could also be reassessed at this stage.
The Deputy spoke about a greenway, which is very popular and is working very well, and the challenges to get the space to put a double-track line down there. However, part of this is the consultation process for CMATS, which will be opening later this year. That is the pathway to see where we will go with on this.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:41+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-25