andMr. Donnellan asked the Minister for Transport and Power what steps are being taken to ensure that there is no further curtailment of railway services.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Railway Services.
19.
The termination of railway services is governed by the provisions of section 19 of the Transport Act, 1958 under which CIE is empowered to terminate railway services where they are satisfied that the operation of such services is uneconomic and that there is no prospect of their continued operation being economic within a reasonable period. The board are also obliged to give advance notice of their intentions in this regard.
Would the Minister state what attitude has been adopted to, I think, yet another McKinsey report which was issued recently in relation to rail services? Have they decided to accept these recommendations?
A very detailed and complex report has just come to hand and is being considered in my Department and will then have to be considered by the Government, of course. As I said here last week, I would hope to have publication of this document for general discussion in October.
Would the Minister agree, in assessing this document rather than taking merely the short-term economic viewpoint which may be the viewpoint taken in the report, to see the long-term economic implications and also the social implications of the closure of railway lines?
All economic and social implications will be fully looked into by myself and by the Government.
Are there any other closures envisaged?