asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport whether he intends sufficient money to be made available to Iarnród Éireann to enable that body to undertake the opening of the promised railway station at Confey, Leixlip, County Kildare; if his attention has been drawn to the urgent need for the provision of this facility in the area; to the fact that planning permission has already been granted in respect of this installation but that the matter has been shelved pending the availability of finance; whether he intends an allocation to be made for this work in the context of the 1990 Estimates; whether it is expected that funds will be allocated for this project from the EC Structural Funds soon to come on stream; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Leixlip (Kildare) Proposed Railway Station.
Approval was given in March of this year for Iarnród Éireann's proposal for upgrading the commuter service on the Dublin/Maynooth line. This would involve an expenditure of about £0.7 million for the opening of new stations at Confey, Coolmine, Castleknock and Broomebridge. The company were unable to proceed with the work this year because of the limited resources available to them and other priorities.
The funding of Iarnród Éireann's capital programmes is a matter for the company as capital grants are not given to the CIE group. The proposal has been included for assistance in the National Development Plan 1989-1993 and it is hoped that EC aid for the project will be forthcoming. Iarnród Éireann will be reviewing the proposal in the light of the outcome of the application for EC assistance and the CIE non-voted capital programme for 1990, which is determined in connection with the Estimates.