Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

The Railway Safety Act 2005 put in place a strong and modern legislative and regulatory framework for railway safety in Ireland. The legislation established an independent safety regulator in the Railway Safety Commission and an independent office to investigate accidents, the Railway Accident Investigation Unit.

In accordance with the statutory framework, an independent investigation is being carried out by the Railway Accident Investigation Unit into the collapse of the Malahide viaduct. I am aware that Irish Rail carried out its own internal investigation and recently published a summary of this report. The company has also submitted the report to the Railway Accident Investigation Unit.

The Railway Accident Investigation Unit is required to publish its report not later than 12 months after the date of the incident. Until this statutory investigation is complete, it would not be appropriate for me to make any comment on the causes of the collapse or the actions that are required as a result, notwithstanding the fact that Irish Rail has published its own internal report.

It should, however, be acknowledged that significant progress has been made in the past ten years in improving safety on the railway network through the investment of almost €1.2 billion in Exchequer funding over that period. In 2010, notwithstanding the difficult Exchequer funding environment, a further €96 million has been allocated to Irish Rail as part of the continuing investment in railway safety.

The Railway Safety Commission is funded by a combination of Exchequer funding and a levy on railway undertakings. The budget for the commission and the accident investigation unit in 2010 is €2.53 million.

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