Vol. 539 No. 1
120 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if, under the EU law, changes are likely regarding public/private partnerships in the transport area with particular reference to the sharing of infrastructure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18989/01]
Three directives which form part of what is termed the "Railway Package" were adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on 26 February this year. One of these, Directive 2001/14/EC, concerns, inter alia, the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity. Under a derogation which applies to the island of Ireland, the provisions of the directive relating to access to infrastructure would only apply in the event that an operator other than Irish Rail or Northern Ireland Railways were to apply to operate on or to share Irish Rail's railway network infrastructure.
The European Commission has established a number of working groups to help member states in the process of implementing Directive 2001/14/EC and the other two directives of the "Railway Package". My officials are attending meetings of these working groups with a view to preparing the ground for the timely transposition of these directives into Irish law.
