I thank you, Sir, for allowing me to raise this important topic and with your permission, I wish to share my time with my constituency colleague, Deputy Penrose.
Adjournment Debate. - Improvements to Mainline Rail Networks.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
About three weeks ago the Government launched the National Development Plan creating great expectations for the future of our country. Indeed, the opening sentence on page 7 says that the National Development Plan is a plan for employment. Today, that statement is being contradicted. Already, the aspirations of the plan are not being met because of the lack of matching funds and jobs are being lost. Infrastructural developments are outlined in Chapter IX and it is proposed to expend £275 million on improving mainline rail networks. This includes track renewal, new signalling systems and the purchase of modern rolling stock. Among the lines to be improved is the Dublin-Belfast and the Dublin-Mullingar-Sligo lines. A programme of track renewal is already under way and there is great expectations that the new rolling stock, promised for mid-1994 will improve the computer service between Dublin and Mullingar. As the Minister knows, an improved service will attract more customers and that, in turn, will bring more badly needed revenue to Iarnród Eireann.
However, these great plans have, unfortunately, been derailed because, from today, the programme of track renewal on the Dublin-Belfast and on the Dublin-Mullingar-Sligo lines will stop. Iarnród Éireann is making 31 employees redundant because it cannot provide the matching funds to continue this work. Ten of these married employees work from Mullingar and they and single men will now go on the dole and draw money from Government resources. The other 21 workers operate from Drogheda. The track renewal needs to be done and the work will be done, if not this year next year or the year after, it is merely being postponed. The funding from Europe is available but the matching Irish funds are not. I call on the Minister to make these relatively small amounts of money available to Iarnród Éireann to keep these men at work; to keep the development plan on the rails; to provide a better commuter service on the Dublin-Mullingar line and to improve the rail network throughout the country.
I thank my constituency colleague for sharing his time. I join in expressing my concern at the news that ten workers were given notice that they were being laid off. They were engaged in relaying new track on the Dublin-Mullingar-Sligo railway line and this involved the continuing CWR track renewal programme. As Deputy McGrath points out, £275 million is provided in the National Development Plan for a major investment programme in the rail network over the next five years. We all know that the upgrading of the Dublin-Sligo line and the provision of new track, new signalling and new rolling stock needs to be carried out. Why delay the process? It is vital work required to ensure that the public who use public transport do so in the greatest of comfort. It is important to provide a comfortable commuter service to entice the public to utilise it.
I see this as important for the provision of employment. This is especially important in a rural area and for those who live in the area around Mullingar. Ten men will go on to the live register and this is demoralising so near Christmas. Some of the workers are married. They were laid off in October 1992 and re-employed on 4 January 1993, a break of two months. In view of the fact that the work is urgently required I appeal to the Minister to make available to Iarnród Eireann the necessary matching funds to allow the necessary work to continue.
I note the concerns expressed by Deputies McGrath and Penrose. I should point out first that staffing levels, recruitment of temporary staff and related issues in the CIE group and its subsidiaries are the responsibility of the boards and management involved. It would be inappropriate for me as Minister to become involved in any way in such matters and I have no intention of doing so.
For the information of the Deputies, however, I understand that Iarnród Éireann's annual track renewal programme involves the recruitment of seasonal employees every year. These employees are laid off as the individual elements of that year's track renewal programme are completed in mid-autumn. The track renewal programme is carried out on this basis primarily because the work concerned is outdoors and has to avail of maximum daylight and favourable weather conditions. The position in CIE in this regard is similar to other sectors, including agriculture and construction, which feature significant seasonal employment. The lay-off of temporary workers in Iarnród Éireann is not, therefore, related to the level of Exchequer finance available to Iarnród Éireann.
By way of background, I should point out that the Exchequer grant to CIE for 1993 is £108.4 million. Given the constraints on the Exchequer, this very substantial amount illustrates beyond any question this Government's commitment to public transport. I should also mention that the public Capital Programme for 1993 provides for capital expenditure of up to £97 million by the CIE group on a number of major capital and track renewal projects including:—
—upgrading of the Dublin-Belfast line; provision of commuter services on the south west rail corridor;
—new railcars and locomotives which are due for delivery early next year; and new signalling equipment.
Both the Dublin-Belfast and south west Dublin projects are receiving significant EC financial support.
The Deputies will be aware that the National Development Plan which was published recently and submitted to the European Commission includes provision for an EC assisted investment programme of £185 million in the period 1994-99 on the upgrading of the mainline railway network. In addition, a further £90 million approximately of unco-financed investment is proposed over the period of the plan subject to the resources available to CIE. The investment programme, which covers all the major lines on the inter-urban mainline railway network which includes the Dublin-Sligo and Dublin-Belfast lines will include expenditure on track renewal, new signalling systems and the provision of modern rolling stock.
Finalisation of the investment programme, as regards specific expenditures on individual lines, will follow from consultations over the coming months between my Department, CIE and the European Commission. I am sure there will be more seasonal employment next year and perhaps these people will avail of that opportunity at that stage.