An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-21
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Ollie Crowe (FF), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I want to raise the report this morning that Irish Rail has concluded that a new IT system to control the movement of trains across the country is unlikely to be used and has written down the €50 million value of the project in its accounts. In its 2025 accounts, which have not yet been published but were sent to the Minister for Transport, the rail company said that based on progress to date, it does not have confidence that the planned traffic management system in its current form can be deployed on the rail network. This is obviously a hugely significant write-down for a State-owned company and once the accounts have gone through the approval process by the Department of Transport, I believe it would be beneficial to ask the Minister to address the House on this matter. As Members of the House will be aware, the National Transport Authority ordered an independent review of the new system last month, which is welcome, but the indications are that it will take quite a while to complete and I think we need to provide clarity in the weeks and short months ahead, given the potential waste of taxpayers' money, which has been talked about here. I would be grateful if the Leader of the House will raise the matter with the Minister.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-21