The following is the statement issued by the Railway Procurement Agency:
Concern has been expressed about the performance of sections of Luas track, in particular the use of a polymer material in certain sections of the track outside the city centre. Media reports have referred to a technical report prepared for AMB Joint Venture, which was the main contractor responsible for building the Luas infrastructure.
The polymer material referred to is a synthetic compound intended to provide a resilient support for the tram rails. The benefit of such a system is that it reduces the noise and vibration generated by trams.
In April 2004, prior to the start of the Luas passenger service, quality control procedures revealed that some of the bonding between the polymer material and the adjoining concrete was not performing to specification.
Detailed analysis of the problem by specialist engineers has demonstrated that there is no risk to safety or to the normal operation of the system for the foreseeable future.
This monitoring has continued on a regular basis since the start of passenger service and there has been no deterioration in the safety or operating performance of the system.
The main Luas contractor, AMB Joint Venture, was required to provide a system with a design life of 50 years, without exceptional maintenance.
RPA is of the view that the performance in the areas in question would not achieve this design life and AMB accepts this view.
AMB is contractually obliged to remedy the problem, to RPA's satisfaction, and at no cost to the taxpayer.
It is expected that rectification works will commence later this year and that the technical solution chosen will result in little or no interruption to passenger services.