Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, to what has now become the Thursday club. I want to speak to the Railway Safety Bill 2001 and address some of the issues arising from the announcement by the Minister and his colleague of the Transport 21 initiative.

The primary purpose of the Railway Safety Bill is to establish an independent statutory public body, the railway safety commission, with wide ranging powers of inspection, investigation and enforcement. It will require railway operators to put in place a formal safety management system and describe the components of that system in safety case documents. A railway incident investigation unit will be established within the railway safety commission. A second independent statutory public body, the railway safety advisory council, will comprise representatives of organisations with an interest in railway safety. The Bill also makes provision for the testing for intoxicants among railway workers employed in safety-critical areas. I welcome all those initiatives. Has the Minister of State checked the constitutionality of the provision for the testing of safety-critical railway workers for intoxicants? I would like him to comment on that because the Government might run into difficulty in terms of that provision.

As was stated by previous speakers, following a derailment at Knockcroghery in November 1997 the then Minister for Public Enterprise who is now the Leader of the Seanad, Senator O'Rourke, obtained agreement from Government for the provision of IR£600 million to improve the safety of our railways. That was very much welcomed. As my colleagues, Senators Dooley and Terry outlined, money was scarce at that time and to secure a package of IR£600 million was a great achievement. I compliment the Leader and her officials on the work they put into preparing this Bill.

IRMS consultants were tasked with reviewing all aspects of the safety of the Iarnród Éireann rail network and of the legislative framework for regulating railway safety. In its report published in late 1998, IRMS concluded that historically the Iarnród Éireann network had been a safe railway but also recognised that there had been a shortfall in investment which at the time was impacting on safety. IRMS recommended that substantial investment was required urgently in infrastructural renewal and that it was necessary to introduce more formal systems and procedures within Iarnród Éireann to further improve safety standards. Since its 1998 report, IRMS carried out two follow up reviews of the safety of Iarnród Éireann's network. In its 2001 report it found that Iarnród Éireann had made substantial progress in improving the safety of its railway infrastructure. That is to be very much welcomed.

This Bill is designed to put in place a modern regulatory framework for railway safety and careful consideration was given to IRMS's recommendations and to regulatory regimes in other countries. The Bill comprises 16 Parts, which the Minister of State eloquently outlined. It covers not only the Iarnród Éireann network but the Luas, the planned metro network and heritage and other railways which have an interface with the public road network or other rail lines.

I wish to comment on the Transport 21 initiative, the €35 billion transport package launched last Thursday by the Minister, Deputy Cullen, and the Minister of State, Deputy Callely. I compliment them on that initiative. As I have stated here previously, we do not have a railway in Cavan. To quote from what an eminent Member of the other House, who is follically challenged like myself but has not given into it and wears a cap, has said, "the only dart we have in Cavan is a dartboard and even they are becoming scarce because of insurance considerations". We welcome the initiative to bring the railway to Navan by 2015, which would facilitate commuters living in Cavan. There is a railway line in Cavan which goes as far as Kingscourt. While it is not possible to include that line under the initiative at this stage, I request that money be provided to maintain it to ensure that when money becomes available in the near future, it could be put into operation. I congratulate the Minster of State and his team on their work.