Vol. 394 No. 2
asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport, with regard to many of the locomotives and carriages in the Iarnród Éireann fleet, in view of their poor condition and old age, their tendency to failure, the gross over-crowding on some provincial services at weekends and in the interests of safety, if he intends to provide Iarnród Éireann with sufficient funds in 1990 to replace obsolete stock; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
123.
asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport if the Government will be required to give any financial assistance or guarantees to CIE for the replacement of some of their rolling stock; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 122 and 123 together.
The funding of Iarnród Éireann's capital programme is a matter for the company as capital grants are not given to the CIE group.
Iarnród Éireann have recently completed their carriage building programme at Inchicore and provision has been made in their capital programme for 1990 for the acquisition of further rolling stock. The company have assured me that every effort is made, within the resources available to them, to provide an efficient and reliable rail transport service.
With regard to over-crowding on trains and safety on the railway, I would refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 200 on 7 November 1989 in which I explained the position about these matters.
