Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I agree with the Deputy that it would be better to have the service back but not just for 24 hours or 48 hours or until somebody decides to take issue with an instruction again in the future. That kind of service is no good for anybody. What everybody wants is for the service to be resumed and for people to be able to make plans and not be left like the people last Thursday who wanted to go to rugby matches, community games or a concert and suddenly found that there were no trains to bring them. We should not just roll over and let them back without getting them to sign anything so that they can do this again on a bank holiday weekend when they think it is a good day to have another strike. It is not a debating point or anything else; it is a fact.

We have had enough of this kind of carry-on from a small number of people who are giving the rest of the drivers, the official trade union movement and the company a bad name and preventing people from making the full change to public transport. Now that this problem is where it is, it should be resolved finally rather than resolved for 24 hours or 48 hours or until somebody decides that they will head off in a different direction again.

I apologise for neglecting to answer Deputy Broughan's question about whether I was made aware of a deep-seated problem. I was made aware in briefings when I came into the Department and in meetings with the company that there is an ongoing labour relations problem within the company to which I averted earlier on. Attempts have been made to resolve this problem over a period. The way to solve it is to use the full labour relations mechanisms of the State, as both the official unions and the management have been doing. I encourage both sides to do this and bring the problem to some conclusion so that we will not have people trying to exploit the problem for whatever reason.

I agree with the Deputy that service delivery is extremely important. The sequence of events I have laid out in the transport area in respect of regulation is that we would set up the DTA, reform the 1932 Act and, in light of the experience, decide on the national transport authority or a national transport regulator. That is in accordance with the programme for Government and we intend to do that.

I have dealt with the points made and will not delay the time of the House in respect of "no strike" clauses, with which we have dealt. I again acknowledge that Deputy O'Dowd raised the matter. Deputy Sherlock is correct in saying that at various times, some drivers have been under pressure. I would say that leave could not be granted to them rather, than that leave was refused, because sufficient drivers were not available at any particular time. Refusing to train the trainee drivers, as was the case in this instance, is not a way to relieve the problems in respect of having to work longer hours because there are insufficient drivers on the roster.

I accept what the Deputy says regarding some drivers having to work longer hours than they want to but that is not going to be resolved by blocking the 60 people that are in training, some of whom are within two days of being fully qualified train drivers and who would expand the workforce and number of drivers, thereby taking pressure off the current drivers. That is not the answer to that particular problem. The answer is to allow the training to continue, as per agreements and to allow the drivers to complete their course. That will ensure that there are sufficient staff rostered to relieve the pressures that exist.

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