Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is quite a lot of questions to be answered in three minutes, but I will try to get through them as quickly as possible.

It is very important that people realise there is a misconception. They talk to me about wages, terms and conditions and ask why I am not doing certain things about it. They should realise I am not the employer. Bus Éireann is the employer. The employer is the person who should be discussing this dispute.

Let me get to Deputy Imelda Munster's questions. I understand what she is saying and we have had this exchange before. She is quite right that I have consistently said the same thing, as has she. It is important, however, to challenge the rhetoric she uses and that we do not throw the blame around this committee as if it is a foregone conclusion that some people have certain objectives. As I have spelled out the following before, she should not have asked me again. I have absolutely no interest in privatising any section, division, subsidiary, or commercial entity owned by the State or CIE. Privatisation is not on the Government's agenda, nor is it on mine. That is an absolute.