Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I hope the dispute can be resolved. It has been before the Labour Court and the Labour Relations Commission and a decision was made by the Labour Court which normally people would be honour-bound to accept. I understand that sometimes that does not happen. In this case the management went through arbitration and the full conciliation process in the Labour Relations Commission. Management went to the Labour Court, where it won its case, and the workers decided to strike. That is the position and they must resolve it. I hope in the interests of the company and the jobs both sides can resolve this issue as soon as possible.

Bus Éireann has over 600 new buses and Irish Rail will accept delivery of 183 new rail cars in the next few years. Our rail fleet will then be the youngest in Europe.

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