Irish Rail decision to write off €50m spent on failed IT project 'a national scandal'

Public Accounts Committee to seek meeting with company over shelving of project to deliver national train control centre

New system would have been used to dictate the flow of train traffic across Ireland, and was initially forecast for delivery in 2024 at a cost of just under €20m. File picture: Larry Cummins

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is to seek a meeting with Irish Rail at the “earliest possible” opportunity after it emerged the company wrote off €50m spent on an IT project which was not fit for purpose.

On Thursday morning, the committee discussed revelations in the Irish Times that Irish Rail had moved to discontinue a traffic management system for its train network planned since 2019, noting issues with the project had been public knowledge for some time.