As Minister of Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding of public transport. The operation, maintenance and renewal of the rail network, is a matter for Iarnród Éireann in the first instance.
Given Iarnród Éireann's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the company for direct, detailed reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.
Pending this response, I note that FourNorth has been co-funded by the European Union's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and my Department to help advance its design, with these studies now progressing through their final stages. These studies will help support the preparation of appraisal documents required under the Infrastructure Guidelines. A public consultation on the Emerging Preferred Option for FourNorth is planned to take place later this year. The further development of FourNorth will be considered as part of the update of the GDA Transport Strategy which is due to commence next year.
I also note that Iarnród Éireann intends to apply for the next round of CEF funding to further advance planning and detailed design for FourNorth, building on the work completed in recent years. If Iarnród Éireann is successful in this application, my Department will provide co-funding to support this work.
