Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----will recall, when this Government came into office, it appointed a Minister of State with responsibility for public transport only for that office subsequently to disappear under the cover of a Cabinet reshuffle. The Minister of State in question did not disappear but was elevated to his current position as Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, and he has had his own trials and tribulations in that role. In the minds of public transport workers, the Government's stated commitment to public transport vanished during the lifetime of the Government. The Government has quite a bit to do if it is to reassure them.

I do not think the Tánaiste answered the first question I asked. Does she accept that the productivity of the workers has contributed significantly to the viability of the company? Does she think it is acceptable that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, who is responsible for this matter, still remains outside this discussion? I do not think he has contributed in a way that would assure the workers that if they avoid the proposed strike, the Government will uphold its commitment to a long-term plan of investment in the public transport system of this State.

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