I thank everyone for coming along — the railway accident investigation unit for presenting a clear and comprehensive report to the committee, which certainly is very much appreciated, and the Railway Safety Commission for its fine contribution.
It was a miracle no one was killed on 21 August last year. Given that there were warnings from the public and that the warning that came from the driver was only dealt with after the bridge had collapsed, we certainly are lucky not to be dealing with tragic fatalities. We cannot emphasise strongly enough the importance of the matter with which we are dealing.
The report and its recommendations reveal a litany of failings of supervision, standards and personnel. That is what is before us — a litany of failings over an extended period. Senior supervisory staff were responsible for inspections, but these did not take place, and for maintaining standards, but this never happened. It is incomprehensible that there was an inadequate level of supervision and inspection. There is a question mark over the line of responsibility. According to the figures, there are 6,000 critical areas, 1,926 underbridges, 780 viaducts and thousands of miles of track that must be inspected. It is a major job. Clearly, this should have been a central part of Iarnród Éireann's operation and of the safety commission's enforcement role.
It is strange that over all these years and despite the warnings such as the complaints in 2006 and 2007, the standards were not improved, the engineering staff were not trained to the appropriate level, no training procedures were put in place and the inspections did not take place. We were waiting for an accident like this to happen. That is very serious. Virtually all the recommendations deal with standards and inspections.
Who was responsible? We are talking about a major operation — the running of the railway system. Iarnród Éireann is responsible for this and for carrying out inspections. Clearly, it did not train its staff properly. It did not put timescales in place to ensure inspections took place. It did not pay attention to warnings, even formal ones, on scouring in this instance.
What was the safety commission doing? It has responsibility for enforcing safety standards and ensuring their implementation. It is not as though Iarnród Éireann operates in a vacuum. It operates in the context of the overall supervision of the safety commission.
I am surprised there is only one full recommendation for the safety commission. I would have thought all 15 recommendations would have been the responsibility of the commission as well as of Iarnród Éireann and that the commission would have had a responsibility for ensuring their enforcement with Iarnród Éireann. Perhaps that will happen in practice, but if one does not state specifically in the document that the safety commission must have a timescale for Iarnród Éireann to implement training, improve standards, carry out inspections, check on personnel and go through the track in the railway system, we are not doing our duty to those being carried and there will not be confidence in the system.
What is the Minister's role in all of this? Presumably there is an annual report. Perhaps they would speak about that. What sort of annual reports on this matter have been forthcoming from Iarnród Éireann and the Railway Safety Commission? Does the safety commission report regularly to the Minister on the safety of the railway system and has he responded in that respect? I am still unclear on that line of responsibility. Who ultimately is responsible for it? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who guards the guards? Who will ensure all the recommendations are implemented and operating?
The European Railway Agency is now in place. This body relates to the Commission, will bring elements of policy to the European Union and, I presume, will have a wider role as well. That is supposed to mean stricter supervision of the system. How is that working out? This agency only came into place in 2008, before the accident took place, but should now be operating across the board. Are new structures being put in place arising from the tighter regime under the European Railway Agency? If so, what changes have taken place and how will that work out in the future? I want clarity to ensure the recommendations will be implemented and to find out the role of the Railway Safety Commission in ensuring Iarnród Éireann fulfils its duty. Who is responsible for reporting on these matters to the Minister in order that we link all of the lines of responsibility?