Vol. 577 No. 4
245 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Transport further to Parliamentary Question No. 367 of 4 March 2003, the status of the report; the conclusions and recommendations of the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31510/03]
Consultants for the Dublin Port tunnel contractors investigated the subsidence incident in December 2002 on the Dublin-Belfast railway line at Fairview. I understand a detailed review of the consultants' report on the incident has been undertaken by all parties concerned and a number of potential causes of the subsidence were identified. To ensure the safe operation of the railway, it was agreed by those parties that mitigation measures should address each of these potential causes, given that none could be definitively ruled out. An extensive programme of grouting was undertaken outside the tunnel construction envelope to fill any voids that might be present. In addition, detailed monitoring of the track and tunnel has continued and has been augmented by increased visual inspection of the track throughout the period of the works.
The monitoring process and current activities at the site are discussed at weekly meetings involving all parties concerned and any difficulties or concerns are raised and addressed. Since the subsidence incident, no similar incident has occurred at the site. However, I understand that the monitoring of the track and tunnel will continue until the excavation below the railway has been completed around mid-2004.
Every activity goes through a risk assessment process before approval is given. A live risk register is maintained for the site and regularly updated. The railway inspectorate of my Department receives fortnightly reports on the works and monitoring at the site and any concerns raised by them are followed up as appropriate. The inspectorate also meet regularly with Iarnród Éireann's divisional engineer in relation to the site.
