Cork's EU Commissioner McGrath upbeat on EU funding for rail

Ireland’s EU Commissioner has indicated that he believes there will be a favourable outcome to a request for funding of the electrification of Cork’s commuter rail service, which is estimated to cost approximately €420m.

Michael McGrath, who was appointed the EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law, and Consumer Protection in December of last year, was speaking to The Echo in the Berlaymont building in Brussels.

The electrification of Cork’s commuter rail service is one of a number of key investments in the Irish recovery and resilience plan included in the second payment request for €115.5m under the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility.

That recovery facility was introduced in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last month, the European Commission endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Ireland’s second payment request under the facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU.

The payment request supports six reforms and five investments intended to benefit citizens and businesses in Ireland, focusing on enterprise emissions reduction, sustainable transport, carbon taxation, digitalisation in schools, businesses and public administration, as well as ICT skills, healthcare, pensions, and housing.

Flagship measures include an investment to support the electrification of railways in the Cork metropolitan area, with a view to expanding sustainable mobility in the region, reducing car use and increasing the uptake of public transport, contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Electrification is part of the Cork Area Commuter Rail programme, which represents the largest ever investment in the Cork commuter rail network.

According to Iarnród Éireann, electrification is included in Phase 2 of the programme, and likely to cost approximately 35% of its €1.2bn budget.

The programme also focuses on decarbonisation and expanding the Cork metropolitan rail network to nearly 3,000 km.

The programme in intended to ultimately deliver increased train capacity and frequency, providing for more connected communities, and a more sustainable transport network.

The new Platform 6 at Kent Station was opened in April, while the Glounthaune to Midleton twin-track project and the Cork area signalling and communications upgrades are set to be completed next year.

Mr McGrath was a Fianna Fáil TD in Cork Central from 2007 to 2024, and served as minister for public expenditure and reform from 2020 to 2022, and minister for finance from 2022 to 2024.

Asked whether that payment request was likely to receive a positive outcome, Mr McGrath said he had been involved in the Cork Area Commuter Rail programme from the beginning.

“I was involved in drawing up that plan in my role as minister for public expenditure in Ireland, and that project was the flagship project in Ireland’s recovery and resilience plan under NextGenerationEU,” he said.

“It’s great to see it progressing so well, under the leadership of people like Jim Meade and AJ Cronin, they’re doing a fantastic job in delivering that programme, and I know that within the parameters of the Recovery and Resilience facility that we operate within the EU, there is strong support for that project, and I believe that support will continue.” 

The EU Commission last month sent its preliminary assessment of Ireland’s second payment request to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC).

The EFC is due to deliver its opinion this month, after which payment to Ireland can take place.