When I went to the TII board, I explained to them that my emphasis on road safety came from very personal experience. Like a lot of people in this House, I went into politics to try to protect people on our roads, having seen the tragic consequences of people being killed after being knocked down in front of me. My first priority is to save people on our roads and improve road safety through the use of speed cameras and the better design of roads. The Deputy can call that ideological, but it is a human response to …

Maybe I should. I will provide it for the Deputy.

It was in the written question but I do not have it here in front of me.

That was not provided in the response. I will provide that directly to the Deputy, but will the Deputy accept, on this ideology that he refers to, that we all have the shared concern about road safety?

Would the Deputy accept that?

But would the Deputy accept my bona fides in that regard?

I thank the Deputy for his question. As he may be aware, the national development plan, NDP, contains a commitment to the western rail corridor being considered as part of the all-island strategic rail review. This review, which I announced in 2021 in partnership with the Minister for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland, is considering the western rail corridor in the context of a more strategic framework for investment in our rail network. This review is the first such Department-led review in two decades and the f…

The bridge will cost something. The project will be paid for from the same budget that we need for a range of other projects. I have asked officials to contact TII. I have also asked them to look at that issue, because I was informed of it. We need to get clarity about the planning. I understand that it may have been a condition of the planning that the bridge would be reinstated in the event of the line being restored. We would have to adhere to the planning conditions. In answer to the Deputy's fundamental questi…

The strategic rail review did a good job. There were further proposals for rail lines, particularly in the Border counties, running from Mullingar, through Cavan and Monaghan, towards Portadown. That is a strategically important route. We have to go back to the particular case from earlier. We have to be careful. We cannot do everything. While I would love to see a railway line reopen from Collooney to Claremorris, the review did not recommend it. I do not think we should give false promises. I do not see that comi…

Upgrading an existing line can at some point become akin to building a new line. The national investment framework for transport guides our spending decisions in the Department and uses existing assets as much as possible.

That is where one can deliver more quickly. It underpins the strategic rail review.

I thank the Deputy. I wish to advise him that I have been made aware of the ongoing issue of access at Clongriffin train station. It is my understanding that the current access from the east side of the station in Baldoyle is a stairwell and lift connecting to a bridge over the railway. This was built some years ago by a private developer and is not in the ownership or responsibility of Iarnród Éireann. I have been informed that a meeting has taken place recently between Fingal County Council, Iarnród Eireann, the …

I absolutely agree with the Deputy. I commit to taking a personal interest in this, because it is not acceptable in the public realm that this mixture of assets is not being maintained or accessible. This is a 400-space car park that is not being used at a time when we are talking about using existing assets. The fact that various different developers are now in ownership of some of the assets is also unacceptable. I am glad that meeting took place on 24 October to try to bring everyone together. I absolutely accep…

I support what all three Deputies have said. We are all agreed on this and I will ensure we make it a top priority to come to a resolution between the various parties.

I thank the Deputy. As part of Government’s continued investment in improving our rail network, the DART+ programme will extend and enhance the current DART system and services west to Maynooth and Celbridge-Hazelhatch. The DART+ fleet project will also introduce electric and battery electric units to the DART network over time, and may allow for the introduction of DART services in County Kildare in advance of the electrification of lines. While the existing Iarnród Éireann operational fleet is already fully deplo…

The most immediate matter is the deployment of those ICRs. That will happen next year, as I said, and I will look for them to be deployed as quickly as possible. We have a budget issue in that we have so many different new public transport services to be put in place that we have to make sure we have the budget allocation for all of them. I am confident we can do that. Iarnród Éireann is best placed, with the NTA, to look at where the locations we have the most constraint and capacity issues are. I am confident tha…

I very much accept the Deputy's comments. He represents his constituents well. There is an urgent need for us to switch. The M7 motorway inwards is completely jammed. The M50 is at full capacity. We have no additional road capacity. We have to start switching people to public transport, especially on the likes of the Kildare line, where the numbers and the demand are so large.

I move the following Supplementary Estimates: Vote 2 — Department of the Taoiseach (Supplementary Estimate). That a supplementary sum not exceeding €1,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31 December 2023 for the salaries and expenses of the Department of the Taoiseach, including certain services administered by the Department and for payment of grants. Vote 5 — Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Supplementary Estimate). That a supplement…

The events last Thursday shocked us all. I cannot recall a moment in Dublin that was so shocking. Obviously, our first thought is for the three young children who were attacked and the heroism of their carer and passers-by in a range of different roles. We must think first and foremost about the child, the carer and their families. At this moment I pray for them to have a full recovery. The riotous behaviour did a disservice to what we should be focusing on, which was protecting the crime scene and thinking of the …

The Energy Security in Ireland to 2030 report was published earlier this week, on 14 November, following approval by the Government. The energy package outlines a new strategy to ensure energy security in Ireland for this decade while ensuring a sustainable transition to a carbon-neutral energy system by 2050. The comprehensive report, which has 24 actions in total, is a roadmap to ensuring a sustainable, affordable and secure energy landscape that balances energy risk and resilience against our binding European an…