Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What the Minister failed to say is that the 2008 Act is the consequence of a 2007 directive from the European Commission which the European Parliament supported at the time and which was a requirement on the State. The Fianna Fáil strategy in dealing with it, in agreement with the unions, was that the competitive tendering process would only be in place for new routes and would not impact on the additional stock of routes. That was agreed with the unions and accepted.

The Minister should tell the whole story when he comes into this House rather than comparing me to some kind of joy-riding bus driver. He is wrong and should accept it. It is his Government and the Fine Gael approach, supported by the Labour Party, that is wrong. The Labour Party pulled a great stroke on the backs of the workers when a Minister of State with responsibility for public transport was appointed.

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