The Government has been urged to invest in rail safety equipment after it emerged that trains have run through red light signals on 15 occasions this year.
Each of these incidents was taken very seriously by Iarnrod Eireann, but none of them resulted in an accident or near-accident, the company's safety manager, Mr Ted Corcoran, said.
All incidents in which red signals were broken were reported, regardless of whether the train stopped 10 in or 10 ft past the signal. In all 15 cases drivers had obeyed the signal and had only misjudged the distance it would take to stop the train.
"There is a difference between a driver attempting to stop who misjudges it by a short distance, and someone who ignores a signal," he said. "It is the difference between a car-driver going through a red light or stopping just past the white line."
However, Labour's public enterprise spokesman, Mr Emmet Stagg, said each incident was one too many. The Government had to act immediately and fund the installation of safety equipment to prevent these incidents, he said.
DART trains are fitted with Automatic Train Protection devices, which automatically stop a train if it goes through a red signal. However, Mr Corcoran said this system was not required on trains using less busy lines.
The safety equipment fitted to Irish trains was currently superior to that used by their British counterparts. The Continued Automatic Warning system informed the driver of a change in signal on the line, by activating a light and buzzer in the driver's cab. This must be acknowledged by the driver, or the system stopped the train.
Mr Corcoran said Iarnrod Eireann's central control office was also automatically informed if a train broke a red light. Drivers would be contacted by phone in such an event.
Signalling problems are believed to have been the cause of the recent Paddington train disaster in Britain. However, Mr Corcoran said Iarnrod Eireann's safety equipment was superior to that used in Britain as it was fitted in the 1970s, 20 years after the British system was introduced.
Mr Stagg said investment in rail safety had suffered as a result of inadequate funding by successive governments. "There should be no such circumstances in which a train should break a red signal, and the investment should be put in place to ensure this," he said.
In all the cases where trains broke red signals the driver was spoken to. He was relieved of his duties the following day and was required to undergo a medical examination. He was also re-examined on the rules and procedures.