John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Railway Accident and Investigation Unit, RAIU, is the independent railway accident investigation organisation for Ireland. It deals essentially with investigations of incidents and accidents on the national railway network, including the DART, the Luas and industrial and heritage railways. An investigation is carried out for the improvement of railway safety thereafter, establishing the cause of the incidents with the ultimate view of producing safety recommendations that would effectively avoid similar types of accidents in the future. These investigations are entirely independent and are focused on railway safety improvement, which is the most important thing.

Since 2014, the railway accidents investigation powers for categories of rail are provided for in secondary legislation. We have enacted statutory instruments throughout this time. This Bill addresses the point that the RAIU will, from 31 October 2020, continue to have a statutory basis for accidents involving railways falling outside the new EU directive, that is, the Luas and heritage railways. We have a number of major sections within this Bill but one of the points I wish to discuss today is Project Ireland 2040 and how that can significantly influence our railway infrastructure on the island of Ireland.

I got the train from Dundalk to Dublin for many years. The investment of significant money in high-speed rail is part of Project Ireland 2040-----