Iarnrod Eireann has said consultants auditing the implementation of its rail safety programme have indicated they are "substantially pleased" with progress to date.
But the rail company said the consultants, International Risk Management Services (IRMS), did draw its attention to areas where more resources should be directed. In a statement, Iarnrod Eireann said it was taking those views on board.
These areas included a shortage of staff resources and ensuring implementation of measures to ensure staff safety, a spokesman said. Safety measures were being negotiated with the company's trade unions, he added.
The company said a report in The Irish Times yesterday, which said IRMS had voiced serious concerns about the implementation of the programme, did not reflect views expressed to it by the consultants.
The Irish Times understands the IRMS audit states that fundamental safety priorities have yet to be identified by Iarnrod Eireann's senior management.
In the Dail on February 15th, the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, said the drafting of the audit report was nearly complete. "From contacts with the consultants, my officials advise me that IRMS is of the view that a number of unreasonable risks still remain to be fully resolved," she said.
She continued: "It is vital that any work identified as necessary is carried out according to the consultants' specifications . . . I am perturbed that risks identified by IRMS in Iarnrod Eireann have not been fully resolved."
Feedback from IRMS had been "very positive", an Iarnrod Eireann spokesman claimed. Iarnrod Eireann's statement said: "We have now completed the first tranche of this critically essential programme on budget and ahead of schedule," the statement said.
In the Dail, Ms O'Rourke said she had been assured by Iarnrod Eireann that work to resolve "unreasonable risks" was continuing. Referring to the audit, Ms O'Rourke said: "The IRMS experts were at all times accompanied on site visits by Iarnrod Eireann staff who would have been aware of the deficiencies as they were discovered by the IRMS team."
The safety programme was initiated after an IRMS report in 1998 identified weak management systems, outdated signalling, poor tracks and other risks on the rail network.
