Brennan stands firm over plans for random testing of train drivers

TRANSPORT Minister Séamus Brennan vowed yesterday to plough ahead with plans to introduce random drug and alcohol testing for train drivers despite opposition from opposition parties and trade unions.

Speaking yesterday after the Railway Safety Bill was discussed by the Oireachtas Transport Committee, Mr Brennan said he would introduce a random testing measure into the text of the Bill when it reaches report stage.

“It’s just too important. If there is a train crash tomorrow with 200 people killed, as things stand, we will not be able to test the driver,” said the minister.

Mr Brennan said he had been asked by the Irish Congress of Trade Union’s general secretary David Begg not to proceed with the measure but considered the issue too important.

The measures to be introduced by Mr Brennan will make driving a train while drunk a criminal offence.

Presently there is no direct legislation making it illegal for train drivers to consume alcohol or narcotics while on duty.

Alcohol and drug use is banned under internal Irish Rail guidelines, however any cases of drink driving discovered are dealt with internally by the company.

However, the contentious issue of random testing was last week opposed by Labour’s Rosin Shorthall and Fine Gael’s Denis Naughten and was this week criticised by Sinn Féin transport spokesman Seán Crowe who said that no railway accident in 30 years had been caused by either drugs or alcohol.

“Random drug testing removes the assumption of innocent until proven guilty as the person subjected to the test must prove their innocence by providing a clear sample,” said Mr Crowe.

Mr Crowe also feared that random tests could disclose information of a personal medical nature, informing an employer if an employee was on medication for illness or disease or whether a female staff member was pregnant.

“These are genuine and legitimate privacy concerns which I do not believe the legislation before us has taken sufficient account of,” he said.

Other measures contained in the Railway Safety Bill include steps to create a railway incident investigation unit, headed by a full-time chief investigator.

The chief investigator is to be appointed by the Minister for Transport, who will also decide the level of resources available to the unit.