Vol. 547 No. 3
162 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she will arrange an investigation by her Department of a possible threat to the railway line at Kilrane, County Wexford arising from coastal erosion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3296/02]
The safety of the Iarnród Éireann railway network is an operational matter for that company and I have, therefore, no statutory function in the matter.
I am advised by Iarnród Éireann that it has engaged the services of marine engineering consultants who have carried out extensive investigations and analysis of the coastal erosion problem at Kilrane, County Wexford. Those consultants concluded that there is no immediate threat to the safety or integrity of the railway at Kilrane. The consultants have proposed various options for medium and long-term solutions to the future threat posed to the railway by coastal erosion and these are being evaluated by Iarnród Éireann in terms of their feasibility, environmental impact and whole life cost effectiveness.
In addition, I published the Railway Safety Bill, 2001, in December last. This radical reform of railway safety legislation will require all railway undertakings, including Iarnród Éireann, to implement a formal safety management system and to describe that system in a document called a safety case. The Bill will require a railway undertaking to identify in its safety case, all hazards and risks to its railway, including any threat from coastal erosion, and will require that undertaking to put in place measures to reduce those risks to an acceptable level.
