Michael Cahill
Question:245. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Transport his views on proposals to reform the rail industry (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13838/26]
View answerThursday, 19 February 2026
Questions (245)
Written answers
As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators.
The performance of all public transport operators is closely monitored by the NTA under their contractual arrangements. These contracts allow for not just the monitoring of performance and the publication of annual performance reports, but importantly, allow for the imposition of financial penalties where performance does not meet the minimum required standards or incentive payments for exceeding these standards.
In relation to rail services, the NTA directly awarded a ten-year contract to Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail (IÉ), running until 2029, for the provision of national rail services. This contract provides for the provision of all DART, Commuter, Intercity and Regional Heavy Rail services in Ireland and sets out the performance standards that IÉ must meet including punctuality, reliability and customer service. A copy of the Contract and its associated Schedules is available on the NTA’s website.
In addition to the application of performance standards, there is a robust regulatory framework in place to ensure transparent and fair processes are applied to track access and scheduling matters, in accordance with EU law.
Directive 2012/34/EU as amended by Directive (EU) 2016/2370 sets out clear requirements for EU Member States as regards the opening of the market for domestic passenger transport services by rail and the governance of the railway infrastructure. These requirements are applied within Ireland under the European Union (Regulation of Railways) Regulations 2015 (S.I. No. 249/2015) as amended by the European Union (Regulation of Railways) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 398/2020).
The directive sets down the principles and procedures applicable to the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity within the EU and requires that certain tasks of the infrastructure manager (the essential functions) be performed independently from any railway undertaking. Accordingly, track access and scheduling are not managed by Irish Rail but are assigned to an Essential Functions Body (EFB), CIÉ, under Regulation 5 of SI 249 of 2015.
SI 249 of 2015 also established the Commission for Railway Regulation (CRR) as the regulatory body for the purpose of appeals or complaints relating to infrastructure capacity and monitoring competition. The CRR is an independent body which oversees the track access allocation and pricing regime and adjudicates on any appeals. Under Regulation 30 of SI 249 of 2015, an applicant who believes it has been unfairly treated, discriminated against or is in any other way aggrieved by a decision of the EFB or Irish Rail regarding track access and scheduling can appeal that decision to the CRR.
Appropriate regulatory measures are in place to ensure that any new operators who join the rail market in Ireland will have fair and non-discriminatory access to railway infrastructure.