The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, has announced the establishment of a Rail Safety Commission as part of a series of measures designed to improve rail safety.
The commission, set up under a new Bill, published yesterday, will be responsible for regulating railway safety in Ireland.
It will have powers to monitor and inspect railway infrastructure, investigate and publish reports on railway accidents, and have wide-ranging enforcement powers.
Its remit will cover the whole Iarnr≤d ╔ireann network, heritage railways and the Luas and proposed metro systems.
Ms O'Rourke said the commission would have "stringent powers" to ensure passenger safety.
Any company failing to co-operate with the commission may be fined up to €500,000. Iarnr≤d ╔ireann, Luas and metro staff will also have to comply with strict alcohol and drug testing.
Codes of conduct will be drawn up and procedures put in place for the sampling of certain staff.
The Minister said she had been conscious that the laws governing railway safety dated, for the most part, to Victorian times and were no longer appropriate for the railway systems of today.
The Bill, she said, would introduce a modern but flexible means of independently overseeing the safety of the railways, not just of Iarnr≤d ╔ireann but also the new Luas lines being built and the planned metro network.
The Minister said a primary duty of care would be placed on companies to ensure the safety of people in the operation of their railways.
Railway companies will be required to implement formal safety management systems and to describe those systems in a "safety case".
A company will not be permitted to operate unless the Railway Safety Commission is satisfied it is capable of fulfilling its duty of care.
The Bill will also establish a new consultative body, to be called the Railway Safety Advisory Council, to consider issues relevant to railway safety and to make recommendations.
Council membership will include mobility-impaired people, the public interest, the commission, railway companies, railway unions and other people with expertise in safety matters.
Ms O'Rourke said one of her main priorities had been the improvement of railway safety.
"It is well recognised that there was sustained underinvestment in the railway for many years.
"It is a credit to the staff and management of Iarnr≤d ╔ireann that they have managed to operate safely over these difficult years," she said.
The new regulatory framework, together with the major investment which the Government continues to make in the railways, would "lay the bedrock" for safe railway travel in the future, she said.