CIÉ CHAIRMAN John Lynch and senior management were accused of telling “lies” and asked to resign at a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport yesterday.
The accusations arose during a debate on the causes of the collapse of the Malahide viaduct which occurred on August 21st, 2009, seconds after an Iarnród Éireann train crossed.
The committee which was hearing evidence from Dr Lynch,Iarnród Éireann managing director Dick Fern and senior colleagues heard accusations that Iarnród Éireann had told a lie to the Railway Safety Commission in relation to assurances that a marine “scour” management plan had been put in place in line with a key safety report.
Fine Gael TD Fergus O’Dowd said a deliberate “untruth” had endangered the lives of all passengers who crossed the Malahide viaduct at least since 2006.
He said CIÉ had told the Railway Safety Commission that a scour management plan was in place, and he did not see how this could have happened unless it was “an absolute lie”. Addressing Dr Lynch he said: “You said you had such a plan and Iarnród Éireann needs to be cleaned out and the board needs to be cleared out”.
Mr Fern said it was not true the company had misled the Railway Safety Commission on fulfilling a safety recommendation for a scour management plan in the estuary. He said the company had put in place an inspection regime but the fault had been not appreciating that the piers of the viaduct were not sunk into the foundations at the weir.
Mr Fern told the committee management accepted accountability, but accountability did not mean “walking away and leaving it to someone else.” Dr Lynch asked that he and his colleagues not be called liars and he was supported by acting committee chairman Timmy Dooley (FF) who asked Mr O’Dowd to respect parliamentary processes.
Mr O’Dowd then said he would amend his remarks to “a deliberate falsehood”. He said the company had told the Railway Safety Commission “an untrue statement that was untrue”. He said “I think you should resign your position” and without resignations he would not have confidence in CIÉ.
Independent Senator Shane Ross said in any independent company the chairman and chief executive would have resigned. He said the company was still “appalling” at providing information on its activities and was not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
Labour transport spokesman Joe Costello said it was “a miracle” hundreds of people had not been killed and he did not believe it was “good enough” to simply “apologise and regret the disruption”. Mr Costello said the evidence was that senior management was “negligent” both at CIÉ and at the Railway Safety Commission. He added Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey should also shoulder responsibility for what happened.
Dr Lynch and Mr Fern apologised for the incident.
But they reiterated that changes had been made and new safety management systems and personnel had been put in place.
