Fergus O'Dowd
Question:40 Mr. O’Dowd asked the Minister for Transport further to Question No. 229 of 22 June 2004 if the examination has been completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20292/04]
View answerWednesday, 7 July 2004
Questions (24, 25)
Fergus O'Dowd
Question:60 Mr. O’Dowd asked the Minister for Transport further to Question No. 229 of 22 June 2004, if he will report on the progress to date on the examination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20291/04]
View answerOral answers (34 contributions)
I propose to take Questions Nos.40 and 60 together.
While the performance of rolling stock within its fleet is a day-to-day matter for Iarnród Éireann, the company has informed me that the examination referred to has been completed and that certain modifications are being made to improve performance.
Will these modifications include health and safety provisions? On a recent train to Drogheda, the air conditioning failed in three carriages and six people fainted and one lady had an asthma attack, as reported in the Drogheda Independent. Is it Iarnród Éireann’s judgment that this train to Drogheda was overcrowded? Many passengers believe that, owing to the failure of an earlier train, more people were forced to take this one. It was a shameful and disgraceful incident. What steps will the Minister take to insist that Iarnród Éireann looks after the health and safety of its passengers?
I share the Deputy's concerns about this incident. The delayed departure of the train was caused by a points failure occurring at Connolly Station. In addition, a technical problem occurred with the air conditioning units on some of the individual carriages on the train which compounded the discomfort experienced by Iarnród Éireann's customers on that hot day. Iarnród Éireann is conducting a full examination of all of its newly-acquired diesel rail cars to ensure no recurrence of the problem. Iarnród Éireann apologised to the customers for the delays that evening and is working to ensure such occurrences are avoided.
What specific changes will Iarnród Éireann make? When three carriages fail such as these, should the train have been postponed due to the danger it posed to customers? Are there panels in the cab to make the driver aware of an air conditioning failure in the carriages on one of the hottest days of the year?
I do not know if he was aware. Such a warning system should be in place and I will draw Iarnród Éireann's attention to the Deputy's comment. It has apologised for the incident and is working to ensure there is no recurrence. What happened was not acceptable to me and I join in the apology to the customers affected.
While no one doubts the sincerity of the Minister's apology, he cannot tell me what changes Iarnród Éireann is making to the carriages. He does not know. It is not good enough that his Department cannot provide him with the facts. Could the Minister find out what the cost of the changes will be and if they will have to be made to all the new trains purchased by Iarnród Éireann ?
I will get the information for the Deputy. He must appreciate that it is an operational matter for the company which operates the trains.
That may well be but this could be a life and death situation for those travelling on these trains. People were in extreme distress.
I will draw that to the attention of the board and ask it to supply the Deputy with the information requested.
Regarding the Minister's comment that this is an operational matter for the company, is it the case that in this instance there was a serious threat to the safety of passengers on the train? Is it also the case that the Minister dragged his heels for the past 14 months? He has not arranged Committee or Report Stages of the railway safety commission Bill which could set down standards and guidelines and enforce them on that service and every other rail service in the country? When will we see the railway safety commission legislation enacted? The Minister should not simply tell us he has an interim commissioner in place. When will we see the legislation to back that up? The previous Minister said this was critical legislation because the current legislation did not allow for adequate investigating powers. The current Minister has dragged his heels on the issue.
It is not fair to attempt to draw a connection between the legislation before the House with regard to safety matters and what happened in this particular case. The rolling stock, track, equipment and so on involved in that case would have gone through the normal safety procedures. We have a very strong safety regime in place, albeit not on a statutory basis. Senior civil servants were charged with overseeing safety. I am fairly sure the necessary equipment in all these areas was signed off on by the relevant safety personnel.
The officials have a problem. They have no backup. They are the ones who have been calling for these changes.
It is not fair to suggest in this particular case, if one knows the facts, that the commission in office, as distinct from the commissioner in office, albeit without statutory support, would have made any difference in this case.
Is it the case that one of the issues being discussed on Report Stage of this Bill is whether the commissioner should have a role regarding maximum capacity on these carriages? Had there not been overcrowding one would not have had the difficulty. For the Minister to distance himself from it is wrong.
The overcrowding issue is before the company for a long time. It is the responsibility of the people operating those trains at the time to ensure there is no overcrowding. They are not allowed to overcrowd trains.
They do so. The train was seriously overcrowded.
They should not overcrowd trains beyond a safe level. That is the clear instruction from the safety officer.
What are the protocols?
There are none.
That is the point. One must have these safety protocols in place. They must be absolute and apply in all these conditions. The Minister could identify with the help of Iarnród Éireann the number of staff on duty on the platform on that day to make sure that train was not overcrowded. I understand that on the 5.13 p.m. train from Pearse Station to Drogheda there were hundreds of people pushing into those carriages. I have never seen uniformed and clearly identifiable Iarnród Éireann staff ensuring that people can get safely onto their trains. What criteria will the Minister insist are used by Iarnród Éireann in future when people are being packed into trains like sardines?
It is the same with the trains to the west. They are like cattle trains at the weekends.
The Deputy might support some of my reforms in that area when I introduce them. CIE staff are instructed by safety officials not to permit overcrowding of trains beyond a safe point.
There is nobody to stop them.
There is no legislation.
They are clearly instructed by safety officials to do that.
How do they know?
There is no legislation backing that up.
They do not know.
Is the Deputy saying they deliberately flout the safety instructions?
That train was clearly overcrowded. People fainted. One lady had an asthma attack. People could not breathe. They were wiping their faces with their clothes. That happened because there was no one on duty to stop the overcrowding. It is the responsibility of the Minister.
I agree, but I do not stand at every station checking the trains. No train should be overcrowded because CIE officials are instructed not to permit overcrowding on trains.
There is no legislative backup for that.
Will the Minister travel on the trains?
I will investigate the matter further because I know the incident caused personal trauma to a number of individuals.