The loss of a UK rail contract by the private transport firm, Connex, which has been hired to operate Dublin's Luas light rail system, is to be raised in the Dáil tomorrow.
The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA), which is responsible for the Luas line, is to also discuss the loss by Connex of its UK contract when it meets the Oireachtas Committee on Transport this week.
The Fine Gael spokesman on transport, Mr Denis Naughten, told The Irish Times yesterday that he would be seeking answers to various questions from the Government on the issue
"Serious issues have been raised," he said.
The controversy is likely to take on a political tone, as the Dáil prepares to go into its three-month summer recess on Thursday.
A spokesman for the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, said yesterday that Connex had a huge international reputation.
"He will expect from them a top-class service for the Luas project," he added. "However, if the company does not perform, the opportunity is there to bring in another operator. It is a performance-related contract."
Last week, it was revealed that the UK's Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) had revoked the licence given to Connex to operate rail services in the south-east after receiving a report on its financial controls by the accountancy firm, Price Waterhouse Coopers.
It is understood that the company was found to be "non-compliant" with the SRA's stringent conditions on the uses of €58 million of a new subsidy.
Mr Naughten said the Government and the RPA would have to say if they had any discussions with their UK counterparts before awarding the contract. "It would have been logical to have asked if they found the company satisfactory," he added.
The issue was not entirely new, said Mr Naughten. "Concerns about the company have surfaced in the British media before," he added. "We must be told what kind of contract exists with the company and if it can be strengthened to ensure that we do not have a repeat of what happened in the UK. What kind of opt-out clauses has the RPA, for instance ?"
Mr Brennan recently told the Dáil that the €691 million Luas project was progressing according to schedule.
He was challenged by Mr Naughten, who said it had been reported that the Office of the Director of Traffic in Dublin had claimed the trams would not be operational and taking passengers before 2005.
Mr Brennan replied: "I will repeat, in case there is any misunderstanding, that my reply stated that the current timescale for the opening of the Luas lines is August 2004 for the Sandyford to St Stephen's Green line. The dates allow for a testing period of three months - this period is taken into account when determining the opening dates."
The Minister added that there was provision for a risk figure on top of the €691 million overall cost. It was not fair, he added, to quote an earlier figure of €300 million because substantial alternation and redesign was undertaken before final approval was given. The Tallaght to Connolly Station line is scheduled to be completed three months after the Sandyford to St Stephen's Green line.
