Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It has been reported that an attack on a Dublin Bus driver in Parnell Square yesterday was racist in nature. A number of attacks on ordinary bus drivers have been taken place, not all of them racist, and they must be condemned by all Members of the House. The bus drivers in Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann who must take such risks are having cuts in pay imposed on them. In the case of the latter, it is proposed to cut their core pay by between €3,000 and €4,000 per annum.

Has the chairman of Bus Éireann been summoned to Dublin? Has he been asked to explain his absence from his country? Has the board of the company met to discuss what is taking place? We have an absentee chairperson or technological manager who appears to work remotely from a computer. It is a disgrace that he has not had the courtesy to return to the country during a time of crisis in the national transport service.

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