The Rail Accident Investigation Unit has sharply criticised Iarnród Éireann in its report into the collapse of the Malahide viaduct last year.
Read the full report
The report confirms that the collapse was due to the undermining of the weir that surrounds and supports the viaduct.
However, it is critical of Iarnród Éireann's failure to notice problems in an inspection just three days before the collapse.
The RAIU also found that engineers were not properly trained for inspection duties and there was no formal mentoring programme at Iarnród Éireann.
The Minister for Transport has welcomed the publication of the report.
Noel Dempsey said the report gave a worrying account of the 'inadequate maintenance and inspection regime' in Iarnród Éireann of recent years, which failed to safeguard the viaduct structure from the impact of scour and erosion in Broadmeadow Estuary.
A major accident was narrowly avoided on 21 August last year following the collapse of a section of the viaduct.
Iarnród Éireann said it has acted on a series of recommendations in the report, such as future inspection standards and their implementation, training of key personnel, risk assessment of railway structures and the provision of physical and flood protection for structures at high risk.
Iarnród Éireann also said there has been a substantial reorganisation of its civil engineering department and that a review of technical standards is being conducted.
