Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will deal with the bus strike issue.

On disability access, I am very aware that Deputy Munster is extremely persuasive and persistent on the issue. There are several ways to fund transport services. All new buses that we buy are wheelchair friendly. However, there are inadequacies in other areas, of which I am very well aware. We have had exchanges in the Dáil on this issue also. I am very sympathetic in that regard. I cannot say too much about the Estimates process, but I note that we have made a particularly strong bid to include a separate item in the Estimates on the accessibility of public transport. I should not have said so, but I have.

I thank Deputy Mick Barry for his contribution. We are in the middle of a very sensitive time. It is not just Dublin Bus that is involved in an industrial dispute. This morning representatives of Bus Éireann are at the Workplace Relations Commission and the indictions are that the dispute will be intractable and difficult to resolve for both sides, the Government and everybody else. I note that the Deputy says I should open the cheque book. I am not going to do so. It is something I have persistently said I will not do and I say it for several reasons. I say it as much to management as I do to the trade unions. Let us be clear that, whereas the emphasis has been on trade unions suggesting the State should open its cheque book, I do not want to see management of Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann or Iarnród Éireann coming to me or assuming for one moment that the cheque book is going to be opened. The Government's position has been clear that the issue must be settled between the two parties involved in every case. The Deputy talked about the subvention being slashed. He is absolutely right, but I regard it as a completely different issue. The subvention is to increase next year, I hope, as it has increased this year, but it will be used to improve services as much as possible. I am looking for a very healthy increase in the subvention, but to me that is a separate issue. However, I take the Deputy's point on Ireland being very low. He is right. It is very low in the subvention league table and we are looking to get it higher. However, it must be remembered that some of the capital funding also goes to these companies and that is not covered by the subvention.

I agree with the Deputy about the need to engage in real negotiations. I have appealed to both sides to get to the table and do not understand why they do not. I am not going to come and negotiate. I am not going to ride in on a white horse in shining armour with a cheque book and say I will solve the problem. That would be exactly the wrong thing to do. As everybody knows, this dispute will be resolved, but it is not going to be resolved if I participate in it in a way that will make things far worse.