Iarnród Éireann has rejected reports that it owes a contracting firm €30 million, having already written-off €50m when it scrapped a rail traffic management system.
Its chief executive officer has told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport that “it is our intention to recover damages”.
“We don’t believe that we owe anything to Indra,” Mary Considine said, when asked about the €30m figure, which was reported in the Irish Times.
Due to commercial and legal considerations, Iarnród Éireann is limited in what it can say, she added, but acknowledged that “Indra have issued their own claim”.
“We do not believe there is anything owing.”
The committee heard that Iarnród Éireann terminated its contract with Indra in July because it had “not delivered” what was contracted for.
“The contract has now been formally closed out in line with the terms and conditions of same,” Ms Considine said, adding that the company is trying to “recover as much as we can” of the monies invested.
Asked what the final cost might be, she again cited the legal process and the possibility of prejudicing outcomes.
“It is currently proposed to provide a replacement Train Control System for the Iarnród Éireann signalling network,” she continued.
The first phase, in the Greater Dublin Area, “will be substantially completed by the end of 2028”, she noted.
Ms Considine undertook to update the committee on the progress of an “ongoing” independent review into what one committee member called the “debacle”.
A spokesperson for Indra said the company “continues to make every effort to pursue constructive dialogue and seek an amicable resolution”.
They said “it remains fully confident in the quality of the work delivered”.
“In any event, the company expressly reserves all of its rights,” they added.
The spokesperson said it one of the world’s leading suppliers of railway traffic management solutions, with more than 20 years of experience in Ireland.
It said its Traffic Management System has “been successfully deployed and is operating in countries including Spain, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Lithuania, all of which have repeatedly expressed confidence in Indra’s technology”
“The system contributes to safer, more efficient and increasingly digitalised railway operations.”
In her opening address, Ms Considine also said that “record demand for Iarnród Éireann’s services continues to grow” with 55 million passenger journeys last year, a figure which “will be well surpassed in 2026, with a forecast approaching 60 million journeys”.
“This represents a near 20% growth in just two years,” she said.
Pressed by the committee chair, Fine Gael TD Michael Murphy, about various cost overruns and blown deadlines, Ms Considine pointed to that high demand, and years of underinvestment, as contributory factors.
“We do not have the capacity or the fleet to deal with the demand for our services,” she conceded. “We would love to be providing a better service.”
She also warned of “continued disruptions” and asked people to “bear with us”.
