Paul Lawless
Ceist:126. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Transport the number of collisions involving trains in Ireland in each of the past ten years. [67174/26]
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Questions Nos. 124 and 125 taken with Written Answers.
Rail Accidents
On the evening of 3 September, Eoin Doyle, a 12-year-old boy, lost his life when the car he was travelling in was struck by a train in Kiltybo, just outside Ballyhaunis. It is incredibly sad and a devastating loss of life. His family and, indeed, the entire community are still in mourning and grief. I spoke to the family and their wish is that no family in the future will ever go through such a loss and such grief. My question to the Minister of State is what lessons will be learned. How many tragedies have there been on the rail network? How many collisions have there been?
Before I commence answering the question, I too extend my sympathy to the bereaved family of the boy and to the community. It is an appalling incident or collision and the consequences are life-changing. On the loss of the young boy, I say to the family, "May he rest in peace."
Amen.
I thank the Deputy for the question. Rail safety is an important priority for me and my Department. The total number of collisions involving heavy rail in Ireland between 2016 and 2025 amounts to 842 according to the 2025 annual report of the Commission for Railway Regulation, CRR, which was published in June. This figure covers a variety of collisions, with the vast majority due to train collisions with large animals on the line or other obstacles on the line.
Train collisions with other vehicles are rare. In 2025, there was one train collision with a motor vehicle. No train-on-train collisions on active rail lines have occurred in the previous ten years. I can provide the Deputy with a table showing a breakdown of the year-on-year collisions and the category of these collisions based on the CRR report.
The CRR is Ireland's independent railway safety regulator and has been a central part of the State's railway safety framework since its establishment under the Railway Safety Act 2005.
Its core mission is to promote, oversee and enforce safety across the rail sector, ensuring that railway operators maintain the highest standards of safety for passengers, workers and the wider public. Through inspections, audits, authorisations, compliance monitoring and enforcement activities, the CRR works to ensure operators meet both national and European safety requirements.
Eoin was a wonderful young boy. He was a very talented Gaelic footballer, soccer player and golfer. He even won an athletics event in the weeks before his passing. He had the opportunity to meet the Mayo team with the Sam Maguire Cup as well. Like his parents, grandparents and wider family, he was very involved in the local community.
I am aware of the crossing where the incident took place. It is extremely rudimentary in nature. Visibility there is poor. Indeed, there was strong mist on the evening as well. The crossing, like many others, is a death trap. Many motorists are completely unaware of such a significant hazard that lies ahead. Since the incident, I have been contacted by many people across County Mayo who have outlined to me the near misses they also had. The technology is available. We need to replace those user-operated crossings with automated barriers and significant warning systems and sirens. The technology is there. It is widely available and is cheap. In fact, it is used across every apartment complex in Dublin and in other cities and car parks across the country.
I have given some data on this, and there is more data in the reply, which I will not read out. It is there for the Deputy to read. It is important that I do not comment on a matter that is under investigation. We have to respect the investigations that are ongoing. A preliminary examination by the rail accident investigation unit, which is the independent national investigation body into the accident that occurred at level crossing XM 160, is ongoing. Decisions made by that investigation unit will be based on the outcome of that examination.
The CRR, the independent national safety authority, is also carrying out its initial assessment of the circumstances surrounding the accident. Decisions made by the commission will be based on the outcome of that assessment. As the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding of public transport. The operation, maintenance and renewal of the rail network and level crossings on the network, including the level crossing referred to, is a matter for Irish Rail in the first instance. I will go back to the basic point that we cannot comment until the investigations are complete.
I appreciate that there is a review under way, how sensitive this topic is and the Minister of State's sincerity. I have read previous reports in relation to other incidents. I am calling for us all to work constructively together. This is above politics. We need to replace user-operated gates with automated gates. This is happening in every car park and apartment complex across this country. The technology is there. It is widely available and it is cheap. The truth is that many of these crossings are on local roads that have high volumes. I ask that lessons be learnt from this incident and that actions be taken in order that no family has to experience a similar loss and grief that comes with it ever again.
I agree with the Deputy. I was at the ITS Ireland conference in Limerick yesterday at which I saw the technologies that are available. Irish Rail is working with technologies to improve its lines. However, it is very important that we make sure whatever actions we take in relation to improving are correct and that they actually bring the safety standards up to where they are required.
There are 868 level crossings in Ireland, of which 127 are known as occupation-type crossings. These include user-worked unattended occupational level crossings on private and public roads. Since 2008, and including the most recent accident in Mayo, there have been four fatalities at level crossings. It is important to note that on the day in question there were two accidents. The first took place at a level crossing on the Tullamore line when a train collided with a tractor. We then had the fatal accident as well. Some of the people who were discommoded by being removed from the first train were on the second train. It was just a freak occurrence. Unfortunately, it cost a life. That is why it needs a very serious examination of all of the level crossings. I accept the Deputy's point that the technology is there, but we have to make sure the technology will work and that it will hopefully remove the risk of ever seeing something like this happening again.
Question No. 127 taken with Written Answers.
Public Transport
Thomas Gould
Ceist:128. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Transport whether he is aware that two routes in Cork under BusConnects had to be rerouted because a bus cannot traverse Church Hill despite numerous public consultations and millions spent to date. [66853/26]
Is the Minister of State aware that two services relating to BusConnects had to be rerouted because buses cannot traverse Church Hill in Glanmire despite numerous public consultations and millions of euro being spent on it?
I thank Deputy Gould for raising this very important matter. As he knows - we are both from Cork city - detailed planning for the implementation of the BusConnects Cork network is under way. I am told by the National Transport Authority, NTA, and Cork City Council that does involve redesign, which is continuing to happen, with the new network to be rolled out on a phased basis. It is fair to say that we both wish it could happen faster. However, the major public transport investment will increase bus services across Cork city by over 50%, supporting a growing population and encouraging greater use of sustainable transport, which we both want.
I am not fully aware of what is proposed, but I was in Riverstown last weekend and am aware of the proposed routing of services via Church Hill in Glanmire. The Deputy mentioned the public consultation. I am informed by the NTA that following the publication of the redesigned network in 2022, it continued to assess proposed routes to ensure they could be operated effectively. In the case of Church Hill, routes 2a and 14a were subject to further testing and detailed consultation with Cork City Council. While buses were able to travel along the alignment proposed originally, further testing identified significant challenges relating to sightlines, footpath issues and the scale of infrastructure works required to address the junctions of Church Hill and Gleann Caoin. Given the cost of those works, the decision was taken by the NTA to realign routes 2a and 14a. Under the revised arrangement, as the Deputy knows, route 2a will operate in both directions on Barnavara Hill towards Dunkettle and will serve the Ballinglanna development, while route 14a will serve Glanmire Road in both directions. I am told by the NTA that the revised alignment has been successfully tested with appropriate associated infrastructure works being considered along the normal planning routes.
I understand the frustrations and challenges experienced by some residents, which I will come back to in a second, in the changes being proposed. I am told by the NTA that the revised alignment is intended to ensure a safe and effective delivery of the new network to enable the expansion of the services through Cork. However, I am prepared to listen to what the Deputy has to say in terms of the residents, whom he is going to talk about in a second.
Some €85 million has been spent on BusConnects in Cork since 2021. That includes €11 million this year alone. What have we got for it? People in Cork and people I represent will tell the Minister of State we have got nothing for it. Then, after all the consultation - five rounds of consultation - we were told on 27 August that the bus will not be able to serve Church Hill in Glanmire and that there would be no bus stop for people living in Crawford Woods.
People are buying houses, moving into communities and renting while expecting to have a proper bus service. Glanmire is one of the fastest growing areas in the State, with hundreds if not thousands of new houses there. Then we do not have a bus service that delivers. These people expect a bus service. Glanmire was actually in Cork city when the boundary was increased a couple of years ago and now we have a situation where some residents have not got a bus service. Many people in Glanmire are very upset by the standard of bus service they have, with buses not turning up, ghost buses and the app not working. People deserve to have a public transport system they can depend on.
I thoroughly support Deputy Gould. I share the same ambition he has and it frustrates all of us that we have issues with the bus service, not just in Cork but across the country. To be fair to the NTA - and I am critical of the NTA, as he knows - we have seen investment by Government through the NTA in the BusConnects Cork network and we will have delivery on the ground. It needs to be expedited but, in fairness, as the Deputy is a long-time member of both Cork City Council and the Oireachtas, he knows to get to the end result of BusConnects, there has to be planning, preparation and delivery in the context of BusConnects. There have been different approvals by Government in line with our infrastructure guidelines. I look forward to that happening and to the Deputy and me travelling on buses and being able to be positive about BusConnects Cork.
I wish to make a genuine comment to Deputy Gould. I will happily articulate on his behalf and that of the residents he mentioned, who deserve a bus service that is reliable and accessible. I will take up the points regarding the residents of Glanmire because the Deputy is right. It is a fast-growing area. We need to ensure there is no gridlock in Cork. The N40 is jammed every morning. We have seen since the opening of the Munster Technological University, MTU, and University College Cork, UCC, after the summer and the growth of Cork University Hospital that traffic in the western suburbs has grown expeditiously. I will talk to the Deputy afterwards and I will communicate on his behalf, and that of the residents of Glanmire, with the NTA.
As the Deputy knows, this is not an operational matter for me as a Minister of State and for the Department. It is the NTA working with Cork City Council. I will happily come back to Deputy Gould afterwards on that.
I wish to update the Minister of State. This route was supposed to be in place in 2024. We are in 2026 and we are told the route is not feasible. Millions of euro have been spent. Some €85 million has been spent in five years and now we are finding out things cannot be done. How many other routes will this also affect? There are people there at the moment who are experiencing the cost-of-living crisis and are struggling. They are looking at this Government and the NTA burning money. That is what they are doing. They are burning money while people are struggling. The NTA told me that detailed consideration of the scale and cost of the measures has led to a decision not to align this route. Why was that not discovered earlier?
We have a situation in Cork where there is absolute gridlock, no matter which direction you are coming from, whether it is north, south, east or west. That is why we need BusConnects to deliver. What we have is BusConnects not delivering. We have areas like Clogheen, Kerry Pike, Sunday's Well, Upper Glanmire and other areas of Cork that are looking for bus services and were promised them. None of them have been delivered. The other area was Kilcully. All those places are waiting for buses with no sign of them. Actually, it is not that there is no sign of them; they are not coming.
I will pose the question to Deputy Gould: is he for or against BusConnects?
I am for it.
No, hold on-----
I met with it. I put in submissions.
Yes. The important point is that we have to deliver. The Deputy talks about burning money. Some €940 million of a public service obligation, PSO, contribution to public transport is a significant amount of money. The Deputy is around a long time and is a clever man. The money we are spending on BusConnects is about delivery and putting the infrastructure and the planning in place so we will have BusConnects. I am absolutely confident that BusConnects will succeed. The Deputy will come into this House and will be lauding BusConnects when it happens. He is right and I completely agree with him; it is not happening fast enough and it is taking far too long. I share his frustration and I understand the upset among people. I deal with it every day. I meet people every day. I use the bus, despite what the Deputy might think. There are ghost buses but, as the Deputy knows, as he talks to people in Bus Éireann, it cannot get mechanics or drivers. It has recruited internationally. We have to address the whole point.
I share the Deputy's ambition. I want it delivered and I will work with him to have BusConnects succeed in Cork. I will take on board the Deputy's views, which are genuine, about the area of Glanmire. Glanmire is one of the fastest growing areas of Cork and it does require a bus service that delivers for people.
Bus Services
Naoise Ó Muirí
Ceist:129. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Transport if he is aware of ongoing capacity issues on the 15 bus route; and the measures that are being taken to ensure that local residents can reliably access the service. [67534/26]
Is the Minister for Transport aware of ongoing capacity issues on the north side's 15 bus route and the measures that are being taken to ensure local residents finally get a usable and dependable 15 service?
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Yes, I am aware of concerns regarding capacity and reliability on the route 15 service, which provides an important 24-hour, high-freguency connection between Ballycullen and Clongriffin, serving communities, including Templeogue, Terenure, Rathmines, the city centre, Fairview and Artane.
I understand that the current route 15 timetable is being reviewed by the NTA and the operator, Dublin Bus, with additional running time and an additional bus being incorporated into the schedule. Here, capacity pressures are most likely to occur around peak school travel times. The revised timetable is due to be introduced on 6 December and will provide for an additional 12 drivers, with the aim of improving service reliability and reducing the impact of delays. An additional journey was also introduced in January 2026 to assist with customer loading.
Looking ahead, the BusConnects programme will also bring changes to the route. The current plan, subject to funding discussions, is for the northside of route 15 to transition to the D-spine in quarter 4 of 2027, with the A-spine covering the southside in 2028. These changes are intended to strengthen connectivity and provide improved public transport options for communities along the route.
I, the Minister for Transport and our officials will continue to support the NTA and Dublin Bus in ensuring that the public transport network has the capacity and resources required to provide reliable services to passengers, particularly where workforce resourcing has been a core concern over the past while. The Department's upcoming public transport workforce task force action plan will play a key role here, looking to facilitate and support the implementation of such critical service changes.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. The 15 is meant to be a northside workhorse service serving Belmayne, Clongriffin and Clarehall. As Deputy Gould said, Glanmire is a fast-growing area. This is also a fast-growing area on the northside. It is meant to be a 24-hour service. It is meant to be going every five to 12 minutes at peak but the service is just not delivering. Local residents will tell you that if you are getting on at Clarehall, you cannot get on. The bus is full at Clarehall at peak. Clarehall is stop three out of 17 on the northside stops, if you take Connolly Station as the last northside stop. The NTA's own data for the service show that one in five buses are late and it does not seem to even gather the capacity issues I can see. I do not know how it reports or deals with that. There does not seem to be a mechanism to deal with that. As Cathaoirleach of the climate committee, I advocate for people to get out of cars and get into the buses but the 15 "ain't working" and we need to get the NTA to step it up.
I hear the Deputy's frustration with this service. I have outlined changes that are going to happen in December with additional drivers and bus runs. It is important. The Deputy says the demand is there so we have to make sure that whatever service we put in place actually meets that demand and is providing a service.
It is a capacity issue. It has been in terms of getting drivers, having the buses, having mechanics to service the buses and all of this. I met with the NTA and Bus Éireann last week in connection with another issue.
These issues are being addressed, but maybe not as quickly as people would like. Like the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, said when talking about Cork, I will be bringing this back to the NTA. It is important that whatever we do with public transport we have to make it a service that people enjoy using and that people can rely on so, going back to the Deputy's position as Chair of the environment committee, we end up with a situation where people do not need a car; where they can not just leave it at home but maybe get rid of it and enjoy public transport. That is the overriding goal for everybody.
I raised this in February and the response at the time was it was planned that a revised schedule for route 15 would be introduced in September. It is now September. I welcome the clarity on what the NTA is proposing but now it is saying, per the Minister of State's response, it will introduce its changes in December. Everything is being dragged out. We are talking about a fair increase in bus services raising about €70 million of which only a quarter is really targeted at improving services like this.
I am not going to repeat myself but we really need to crack the 15 so it works for the northside. I know the Minister of State will but I implore him to sit on the NTA, to dialogue with it and to get this service working properly so the people I talked about finally get a reliable service as commuters to work or school, or to appointments in the city centre.
I thank the Deputy. I will bring his concerns back to the NTA. It is no problem. I will also seek to find out whether it can bring forward that date if it had already given a date in September. The date the authority now says it is going to introduce the service is 6 December. I do not know why it has been delayed. I can imagine why. An additional 12 drivers and additional bus services coming on will make a difference but we need to keep on top of it to ensure the service is fit for purpose and that we provide public transport for those who want to use it. That is the aim of everybody and we will continue to work on that.
Question No. 130 taken with Written Answers.
Bus Services
Thomas Gould
Ceist:131. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Transport whether he has conducted any affordability tests on fare increases in Cork. [66855/26]
As the statutory body responsible for regulating fares across services operated under the PSO contracts the National Transport Authority is central to shaping a public transport system that is fair, efficient and accessible. Through its management of fare strategies, it helps to ensure pricing structures support social inclusion and modal shift while also underpinning the financial viability and resilience of the network.
A significant milestone under the national fares strategy was reached in July 2026, when a simplified fare structure already in place in Dublin was extended to Cork. Passengers there can now avail of the TFI 90-minute fare, allowing transfers between multiple bus services within a defined period on a single fare. This is encouraging multimodal travel and reducing the cost of interchange. The NTA recently noted the introduction of the TFI 90 fare and fare capping has delivered a simpler and more affordable fare structure for passengers in that area, with a view to facilitating future expansion of the multimodal network. This represents a shift away from operator-specific pricing towards a customer-centred, integrated transport network. For the first time, passengers using Bus Éireann's Cork TFI city bus services can catch any bus in the city and transfer between buses in Cork city as often as needed within 90 minutes, all for a single fare of €1.70. The new on-board ticket validators complement this by allowing passengers to tap their Leap card. This reduces boarding times and improves overall reliability and punctuality.
The national fare determination announced by the NTA in September builds on this for Cork with city fares being held at those levels from July 2026, rather than adjusted or further increased. Time-based tickets for children, students and young adults such as 1-day, 7-day, monthly and annual tickets will actually see costs fall by about 30%. These offer particularly good value for some frequent users and demonstrate both the NTA and Department are firmly committed to delivering a public transport system that is sustainable, dependable, accessible and affordable.
Just to let the Minister of State know, the fare hike came into Cork in July. What that means for adults going to work, college or hospital appointments is an extra €240 a year. On top of that now we will see the price go up for the train. If you get the train or the bus you are going to see your fares going up. Has the Minister of State conducted any tests to see if people can afford to absorb these fare hikes? People are telling me they are being priced out. He talks about the 90-minute fare but we have people who could be waiting an hour for the bus. That would not be unusual. Expecting the 90-minute fare to work is not feasible with the bus service we currently have in Cork. Not one extra bus route has been delivered in Cork in 2026 and at the same time the bus fares are being hiked up. How can that be justified? The app is not working. The NTA has admitted that. I have met the authority on a number of occasions. People are standing at bus stops looking at signs and the app is not working. They are looking at their phones to see when the next bus is and the bus disappears. How can that be right? How can the Government be charging people extra for that? The only thing we are getting from BusConnects is announcements. We are not getting buses and we are not getting new bus services.
I will repeat what I have said about the changes that happened in July 2026 in Cork. They make the fares cheaper and make it easier for people to use multimodal transport. If there are issues with buses not coming on time we have discussed that earlier and we are working on that. The cost for children, students and young adults in Cork of time-based tickets such as the 1-day, 7-day, monthly and annual tickets is coming down by about 30%. That is a fact. This is as a result of the introduction of the standard discount for young adult and students at 50% and children at 33% of equivalent adult fares. These can offer very good value for some frequent users.
It is important to say this Government has invested €941 million in the PSO levy in 2026. That is a huge increase from 2025 and we will continue to invest in public transport. There are problems with public transport in places and we will continue to work on that to improve its efficiency and reliability.
We were told in Cork the fair increases were to pay for the 90-minute fares that were to come in. This is nonsense. It was done when the schools and the colleges were on holidays. It was snuck in over the summer with the thought that people would not spot it, but I spotted it. People who get the bus contacted me because they spotted it and could feel the difference. We are now being told more hardware will be needed for contactless payments. Will fares go up again when that comes in? People are struggling. There is a cost-of-living crisis. The cost for adults is an extra €240 a year. They cannot afford to drive and now they cannot afford to take the bus. Where was the feasibility audit done to see if people can afford this? The Minister of State talks about the PSO levy, about climate change and about getting people out of cars. How does putting up the price of buses at the same time as trying to get people out of cars work?
I have another point to make. We have one park-and-ride in Cork. There is gridlock in Cork city. Why are park-and-rides not being rolled out north, west and east of the city so we can get people out of cars? We need have buses for them to get into the city.
The local authority should be putting in place the park-and-rides. The Department of Transport will support that and we need to see what the proposals are.
Let us just go back to understand what the PSO services support. They support a wide range of Government policy including climate action, sustainable mobility, regional development, social inclusion, compact growth and economic competitiveness as well as the accommodation of population growth.
There is a significant increase in demand for public transport because we are providing additional public transport at a price that is affordable. It has to be said that 27% of the population can avail of free travel. This is another important fact. It is important that we not lose the run of ourselves. We have to make sure that whatever we do in public transport is sustainable and that we can deliver the service to make sure that everybody has that choice and can enjoy using public transport as well.
Public Transport
Erin McGreehan
Ceist:132. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Transport to provide an update on the actions undertaken to improve transport in rural areas. [67411/26]
I am asking about the actions undertaken to improve transport in rural areas, in particular in north Louth and mid-Louth.
I thank the Deputy for her ongoing support for public transport in Louth and other places in rural Ireland. This question deserves attention in terms of the progress we have made in rural transport. As the Deputy knows, it is one of the key points of our programme for Government. The Minister, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and I are very much committed to balanced regional investment being designated as a core principle in the national development plan, NDP, sectoral investment plan for transport. Predicated on that is investment in rural transport, Local Link and that piece to which we will return in a minute.
The Government is firmly committed to rolling out additional improved service levels along with expanded and improved infrastructure at national and regional levels. Probably the most visible of these programmes is the Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan. This is a multiphase programme of investment in a new and improved public transport service for rural areas. Under the programme, upwards of 600,000 people now have access to useful daily public transport services for the first time and 188 new and improved regular public transport services have been provided, resulting in a more than fivefold increase in passenger numbers. Multimodal transport is something that has existed in urban areas for a long time and I am delighted that, under our remit, we are now seeing rural communities connected as well.
It is a key commitment in the programme for Government and also for County Louth, and I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I met John McGahon, chief executive of Dundalk Chamber of Commerce yesterday and he raised the matter with me. The Deputy has been very strong in her advocacy to me for a long time. The sectoral plan will also see us looking at investment in greenways but also giving an uplift in terms of rail.
In my supplementary answer, I will discuss other matters regarding County Louth.
As the Minister of State is aware, Louth is the smallest county. Sometimes, one would imagine that it would be easier to get around the county by bus but when one tries to reduce one's reliance on private transport, it feels sometimes like crossing a continent. We all know that rural connectivity is a real programme for Government commitment. We need to be able to travel between our towns and villages and from our rural communities where people live, work and access all services. The bus service in Louth is not fit for purpose in many ways. There is no direct bus between Ardee and Dunleer, which are neighbouring towns and only a 15-minute drive apart. To make that short journey by public transport, one has to go from Ardee to Dundalk or from Ardee to Drogheda to get to Dunleer. It makes no sense.
The service from Dundalk to Omeath and beyond is very local to me. Buses serve the Cooley Peninsula but the timetable is far too limited. If one wants to rely on transport for education, healthcare or work, one really needs to take the car. The service does not get people to where they need to be in a particular time. We need more frequency.
I hear what the Deputy is saying in the context of County Louth. The key point for us as a Department and for me as the Minister of State with responsibility for rural transport is to look, along with TFI and Local Link, at the enhancement of the No. 161 from Dundalk to Carlingford to Newry. We are also looking at the piece around the No. 162 Dundalk to Monaghan bus service and the review of existing services in County Louth, including the No. 177 between Ardee and Dunleer. I will certainly take the Deputy's views back.
We are looking at the proposed new DN1 route between Áth Leathan, Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT, and Haynestown-Marlmount. As part of our negotiations with the Department of public expenditure on the budget, it is important that we see investment in rural transport, but I will work with the Deputy to ensure that we see further investment in County Louth.
It is positive that the Minister of State is looking at this. We need a robust plan for Louth to allow us to travel across and enjoy our county by bus. It is a fabulous place and the integration of additional routes would be a fantastic investment in the people and roads of County Louth.
I was in Carlingford over the summer, which is a beautiful spot. Regarding the Deputy's point about passenger numbers, the numbers using the regular rural service have increased by 72%.
That shows the interest.
If we put in investment aligned with the interest, people will travel. As the Deputy said, it is about tourism and economic opportunity but also about getting people from A to B. It goes back to the discussion that I had with Deputy Gould this morning about getting people out of their cars and onto buses. I will work with Deputy McGreehan on that.
Question No. 133 taken with Written Answers.
Public Transport
Pa Daly
Ceist:134. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport the position regarding the new projected costs for MetroLink, if he will commit to delivering MetroLink within this new projected cost, if he will commit to equivalent ambition and resourcing for public transport projects outside of Dublin over the same period, and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67303/26]
I also want to ask about whether there is an equivalent ambition to delivering more rural services, as we cannot have a situation where all of the money for the next few years is invested inside the M50 and not beyond.
The Estimates are the Estimates. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating when the tender is brought in. I will not give any commitment until we see what the real overall cost is from the tenders. The range that is there at the moment is between €14.4 billion at the lower end to €17.49 billion. The firm proof of the pudding will be when the tenders come in next year. This project is a key component in delivering not just a rail connection within the city of Dublin, but also the opportunity to build houses and open the entire city up for development.
The Deputy asked about rural Ireland and what we were doing around the country. We have put the Galway outer ring road and the Cork commuter rail in as two strategic projects that we need to get done. They are moving ahead fairly fast. Within the all-island rail strategy, which is under my remit, the Deputy can see what has been prioritised in terms of rural rail and what needs to be done there. The Deputy can see what we are already doing in terms of the development at Cork and Limerick stations and what has been completed at Galway station in order to provide for additional rail capacity. That is happening as we speak under the strategy. There is an opportunity for us in the regions to make sure that we continue to develop and provide the infrastructure so that people can live, work and enjoy life in the regions. That is Government policy.
I know I am under time constraints, but I note that some people from Garvaghy Road have arrived in the Public Gallery. I welcome them and stand in solidarity with and support them.
There is only one problem, in that the Minister of State has not answered the question I asked him about the budgetary constraints and whether the Government was going to deliver on cost. We have seen what happened over the years with the children's hospital - the cost overruns there - so is the Minister of State going to give us a commitment to deal with any escalating costs? What provisions has the Government put in place to prevent a cost overrun like those we have seen on so many different projects over the years? The Government cannot present the public with another multibillion euro project without keeping costs down because we have seen cuts around the country, particularly in County Kerry, where we are waiting on more buses and larger buses. One cannot even get a cup of tea on the train from Kerry to Dublin. We see that the lack of services there in contrast to all the moneys being committed, so we want to make sure that the money is going to be limited.
The Deputy is asking what kinds of constraint or what time or safety factors we will put into the contract. That contract and the conditions of that contract are being prepared at the moment before it goes out to tender.
I can assure the Deputy that this project will be delivered. It has to be delivered because it is vital for the country. It is the single largest project that we will undertake from a capital expenditure point of view. I look forward to it being delivered.
Many projects in this country are delivered on time, within budget and to the highest standards, and we do not talk about that at all. It is important that I say that and put it on the record.
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