When approving the implementation of the £430 million Railway Safety Programme 1999-2003, the Government also approved an annual Exchequer contribution for five years. The precise amount of that contribution will be determined as soon as an independent review of the scope for revenue generation from CIE's surplus property portfolio has been completed, and a property disposal programme has been agreed.
In addition, the Exchequer and the EU together are providing a total of some £60 million in 1999 and 2000 for capital expenditure by Iarnród Éireann for improvements to suburban rail.
Furthermore, my Department is currently examining non-safety related investment proposals submitted by Iarnród Éireann for the seven years up to 2006. These proposals are being considered as part of the strategic transport needs for the country as a whole, in the context of the preparation of the National Development Plan.
Directive 91/440/EEC, which was transposed into Irish law in 1996, permits limited access to the rail infrastructure of Iarnród Éireann by other railway undertakings. The European Commission recently put forward proposals for further rail liberalisation measures which are currently under discussion at Council of Ministers level.
However, since the transposition of Directive 91/440/EEC there has been no demand for access to the Irish railway infrastructure. The main reasons which I can suggest for this lack of demand are our physical isolation from the European rail network, technical differences in the rail gauge, our low population base and the uneconomic nature of our rail services.
Accordingly, Ireland has sought an exemption from some of the more onerous administrative mechanisms under the current EU rail market liberalisation proposals, where those proposals are unlikely to have any practical effect on opening up the Irish rail market.
