Railway Safety Bill 2026: Second Stage
Dail Éireann — 2026-10-01
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Pa Daly (SF), Kerry

I thank the Minister and his staff, who provided such a comprehensive and clear background and analysis of the Bill. As we are speaking about road safety, I remember Eoin Doyle, who died in the tragic incident near Kiltybo in County Mayo. There is an investigation going on, so I am not going to comment too much but I know people from the area. The reports I read about the funeral were really heartbreaking. I offer my sympathies to his parents, Declan and Elaine.
While Sinn Féin will support this Bill to the next Stage, we must be clear that nothing the Government will do here today will address the real issue in relation to railway around this country, which is that our rail network is one of the weakest and least developed in western Europe. While Europe was building high-speed rail, electrifying lines and connecting regions, successive Irish Governments were closing railway lines and managing decline. Not surprisingly, rail accounts for only approximately 3% of passenger transport in Ireland. That reflects the lack of investment over many years and the lack of attractive rail alternatives outside of the Dublin area.
Communities in Kerry, Donegal, Mayo and across the west are paying the price for decades of transport policies that prioritised roads and took people off the railways. In my county alone we had the Dingle line, the Reenard line to the ferry for Valentia Island and other railways, particularly the line from Listowel through Abbeydorney and Lixnaw and up to Limerick, which, of course, was ripped up as well. Roads were prioritised and the railways were closed.
If countries across Europe can deliver, Irish people are entitled to ask why we were left behind. The real scandal is not that we lack high-speed rail, it is that many communities today have less rail connectivity than previous generations. This Bill does not do anything to address the issue. This legislation is not about investment or expansion. It is not a Bill that will deliver any modern rail network that communities across the island have been promised for years. As was comprehensively outlined, it is technical and regulatory. It updates safety procedures and accident investigation arrangements. These measures are important and necessary, but the bigger issue in rail is the failure to deliver the infrastructure fit for the 21st century. Safe railways matter, but also people need railways that actually exist and provide services. Communities cannot board a safety regulation or commute on a statutory instrument or a Government press release. We need trains, tracks, stations and services. That is where this Government and previous Governments have consistently fallen short. No new services were provided this year due to lack of investment.
The Bill places the Railway Accident Investigation Unit on a statutory footing. It strengthens investigation proceedings and modernises provisions relating to intoxicants and railway workers. These provisions are all sensible. I do not think anybody in the House will argue against maintaining railway safety standards to the highest level possible. Public transport must be safe and reliable and it must be trusted. However, people across Ireland are asking a different question. Where is the delivery? Where are the rail projects that have been promised for years? Where is the ambition that successive Governments continually tell us is just around the corner? When we look at this legislation, we see one of the weakest railway systems in western Europe. We have had more reviews than new railway lines.
The Government constantly points to the all-island strategic rail review as evidence of a commitment to rail. Minister after Minister has referenced it. We have seen the launches and the announcements, but communities are entitled to ask what has actually changed. The review sets out a vision for transformational investment in rail. It is recognised that Ireland needs a major expansion of its rail network, additional lines, electrification and stronger regional connectivity. It acknowledges that the network must grow significantly if we are serious about balanced regional development and meeting our climate targets. However, a plan on paper means little if there is no ambition for delivery.
The gap between what the Government is saying and what it is doing is impossible to ignore. The clearest example of this is the western rail corridor. For decades, communities in Mayo and Galway and throughout the western region have been hearing promises, hoping for a line that will continue from Limerick through Ennis, all the way up to Sligo and maybe beyond. For decades, they have been listening to studies. They have been told to wait. The latest is they have been told that construction on the Athenry to Claremorris section is targeted for 2028. After all these years, communities are still being asked for more patience. We do not need any more plans, strategies or consultation exercises. We need shovels in the ground and a railway line which will deliver all the way. The reality is that a project recognised as strategically important is moving painfully slowly. Every year lost means more families are forced into car dependency, more congestion, higher transport costs, greater emissions and fewer opportunities for regional growth. The clear message sent to the west is that people there must wait for the next review or the next announcement. It is welcome that a new railway line has proceeded from Limerick out towards Foynes in the past few years, but it is incredible that there is no provision to have passengers. The line is solely for freight, for whatever developments are going to take place in Foynes, an Amazon building or whatever. That the foresight is not there to build on the increased appetite for passenger transport on the railways is almost unbelievable. That millions are being spent on a new, temporary platform at Adare for the Ryder Cup says it all.
We will have to wait for the next programme for Government for any more developments there. In the meantime, project after project is jumping the queue. The west must not wait to be treated as an afterthought. People outside the M50 contribute to the economy too and deserve access to modern public transport. A network designed on the basis that all roads lead to Dublin is destined for failure. In Kerry, we know too well what happens when regional transport is treated as an afterthought. We are not asking for luxury, but we are asking for basics and reliable rail services, better connectivity and investment that recognises the south west is no less deserving than any other area of the country. For example, the Tralee to Dublin transport artery is the longest rail journey in the country, connecting families, students, workers, business and tourists to the rest of the island. Passengers cannot buy a cup of tea on a four-hour journey. Many of the people who are travelling on this journey, and I see it myself, are attending medical appointments in Dublin and may be older or frailer. They do not want to have to transfer trains; they want a direct journey. However, on the direct journey, they do not have any access whatsoever to a trolley or a shop. This might seem like a small thing, but with the surplus and with all the investment that is going on, it surely is not too much to ask. People travelling from Tralee to Dublin, sometimes with children also, and students heading to college are paying fares which were reasonable until the latest hikes. They should not be expected to undertake such a long journey without basic refreshments. The attitude that some routes warrant investment and others will have to make do is going to have to change.
We hear frequently about climate action. This is one of the most effective climate measures available to any Government. We cannot persuade people out of their cars if there is no train available, or achieve modal shift if communities have no realistic public transport alternatives. We cannot lecture people about reducing emissions if we fail to provide the infrastructure that will allow them to do so.
Railway investment is not simply a transport issue. It is about housing, climate, economy and balanced regional development. It helps people access employment, education, healthcare, tourism and investment and enables balanced growth rather than endless concentration around Dublin. Areas of the west and north west are rail deserts. They have weak rail connectivity or no service at all. We have to push on and get a rail line up through the west, through Navan and on towards Tyrone and Donegal. The network is heavily Dublin-centric, making travel between the regional cities very slow, and that deficit is not inevitable. It is caused by a shortage of demand, acknowledged by the Government's own reports.
The Government can move quickly when it chooses to, but when the communities ask for actual rail infrastructure, investment and construction, they are left waiting indefinitely. We need action now. We need the Government to be clear that public transport policy cannot begin and end with reports that are gathering dust. We support measures contained in this legislation providing for railway safety and independent accident investigation. Public confidence in rail travel depends on this robust safety regime, but that alone will not build a modern rail network. The true test will be whether the projects like the western rail corridor will be finally delivered, whether the ambition contained in the all-island strategic rail review is translated into construction on the ground, and whether rural and regional Ireland finally receives the infrastructure that has been promised for decades. Communities deserve more than announcements and reports. It is time for the Government to get on and deliver.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-10-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:01:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-10-01