Vol. 428 No. 1
400 Mr. Connor asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he will confirm that arising from the current discussion on transfers from the EC Cohesion Fund to Ireland in 1993 a portion of these funds will be allocated towards upgrading the Dublin/Sligo and Dublin/Mayo railway lines, in conjunction with announcements already made that portions of the fund will be directed towards improvements on the Dublin/Belfast and Dublin/Cork lines.
Work is already under way under the supervision of the Department of Finance on the preparation of a national development plan which will set out the Government's priorities for the use of EC funds available to Ireland from the next tranche of the Structural Funds and from the Cohesion Funds.
As part of this process the Government will be seeking EC funding for an integrated package of transport measures, including improvements in strategic rail links. Decisions on specific allocations of EC funds for the mainline railway network will be dependent on the Government's assessment of overall national priorities and on the detailed negotiations with the EC authorities.
