Vol. 504 No. 3
48 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if Exchequer funding will be made available to Iarnród Éireann in view of its stated investment needs of £642 million over the period 1999 to 2003, of which £431 million is for safety measures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11851/99]
When approving the implementation of the £430.6 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.
It is anticipated that the non-safety related capital expenditure planned by Iarnród Éireann in the period up to 2003 will be funded by a combination of CIE internal resources, borrowing and EU grants.
Proposals from consultants to undertake the independent review are currently being jointly considered by my Department and the Department of Finance and an appointment will be made shortly.
Non-safety related investment requirements for the railway 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.
49 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she has satisfied herself that the increase in carriages from six to eight will be able to provide for the current demand and any future expansion in Balbriggan in view of the planned increase in population in 1999 from approximately 9,000 to 25,000; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11852/99]
I am satisfied that an increase to eight car trains would provide a major increase in capacity on the rail network. However, no single measure on its own will address the public transport deficit and a package of initiatives will be required. In order to determine the optimum set of measures, evaluations of the short to medium term suburban rail investment proposals for Dublin are being finalised by CIE. Detailed work on transport investment requirements for the period 2000 to 2006 in the greater Dublin area is also being completed by the Dublin Transportation Office. Both the CIE and DTO work is expected to be completed this month.
CIE is in the process of engaging consultants to carry out the feasibility and costing studies on the longer term proposals for suburban rail and I expect these studies to be completed by year end.
