Government plans to sanction performance-related salary increases for transport bosses, including the CEO of CIE, must be shelved until there is full accountability for the botched handling of Irish Rail’s new traffic management system (TMS), according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly.
Deputy Farrelly, who is the party’s transport spokesperson, said:
“This essential IT project – which is needed to integrate signals, communications and other systems on the rail network – has turned into a complete fiasco. Not only has it resulted in almost €50 million being written down by Irish Rail – a scandalous waste of taxpayers’ money – but the failure to deliver the new system also has serious implications for the safety and future expansion of our creaking rail network.
“This project has been beset by endless delays and is now two years behind schedule. With testing of the new system uncovering serious safety flaws, it has been reported by the Irish Times today that the board of Irish Rail is now seeking to end the contract with the Spanish company involved – a decision that will ultimately fall to the National Transport Authority (NTA).
“The role of the NTA is this debacle must be fully interrogated when they appear before the Oireachtas Transport Committee on Wednesday, which I will be attending. Despite being the approving authority, the NTA demonstrated very little oversight and seems to have taken a hands-off approach to this project.
“I believe there are questions to answer about the robustness of the tender phrase of this contact, the process around the system’s design, and why the NTA did not intervene and call a halt to the project in the face of sliding timelines and ballooning expenditure.
“It could now be the summer of next year before the first phase of the TMS – covering the Dublin to Rosslare line – is operational, with the rollout of the full system delayed into the 2030s. The NTA must outline what impact this will have on ambitious transport projects, such as DART+.
“It was also reported in the Irish Independent today that the CEOs of State transport companies, including CIE, are in line for future performance-related salary increases. I believe the Government should now defer signing off on any such pay hikes until there is full accountability for this absolute shambles.”
June 29, 2026