Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 April 2018
35. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on the reliability of the route profitability figures published in the rail review 2016; if his attention has been drawn to anomalies in the figures; if so, the assurances he sought or was given that the figures were robust; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17776/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, the Rail Review was undertaken jointly by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Iarnród Éireann and was published in 2016.
The purpose of the Review was:
- to look at the existing rail network;
- to identify the funding required both to maintain the network and to provide for necessary capital works;
- and to consider the gap in funding.
My Department has consulted the NTA on the matter raised by the Deputy and the Authority has advised that it is not aware of any anomalies in the figures published in the Rail Review 2016.
The NTA has stated that it is confident that the route profitability methodology utilised by experienced consultants on behalf of the Authority and Iarnród Éireann is robust and suitable for the comparative analysis that was carried out.
Since the Rail Review was published, there have been significant developments in relation to the level of funding available for rail investment and services.
Budget 2017 allocated over €50m in additional funding to Irish Rail in 2017 bringing the total (current plus capital) funding for the year to the company to over €300m. This significant increase in funding allowed for increasing investment in maintenance and renewal of the network and the rolling stock, and also to provide more funding for safety projects.
In Budget 2018, I secured an 8% increase in the overall Exchequer funding for PSO services across both the bus and rail networks. Budget 2018 also provided for an increase in the multi-annual capital investment for public transport with a four-year capital envelope of €2.7 billion over the period 2018-2021. This represents a 30% increase over the original Capital Plan allocations for 2018-2021 and includes investment of over €1 billion in heavy rail maintenance and infrastructure.
The public consultation process held by the NTA following the publication of the Rail Review in 2016 helped to begin an informed discussion about the current and future role of rail transport in Ireland. Over 300 submissions were received in response to that consultation process. The NTA has prepared a report of those submissions, and it has recently updated this to reflect the additional funding which will now be available for rail infrastructure and services following on from Budget 2018.
The NTA’s updated report on the consultation was received by my Department in February. I intend to bring the updated report to Government shortly and I would expect that this updated consultation report would then be published shortly thereafter by the NTA.
