Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Grant Thornton report was submitted to the then Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Donohoe, and others in January 2016 and the Government sat on it. Why? It was because of the general election. The Government did not want to deal with it. It went on for a full year and a bit and then in one fell swoop, the Government has stated the workers will take the brunt for the entirety of the issues facing Bus Éireann. That is what is happening here. When the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, announced his Estimates for Bus Éireann, he never once alerted anybody to the crisis facing Bus Éireann. Read the press release he issued on the day. It is full of self praise - "I'm doing this, I'm doing that." Did he once alert anybody that there was a crisis coming down the tracks that his predecessor and the Government knew about? In essence, regardless of whether it likes it or is transparent about it or will tell the truth, the Government is presiding over the demise of Bus Éireann as a public transport company. Many within Fine Gael probably agree with that, which is probably at the root of the inertia on the Government side. It is acquiescence in the undermining of the company and the reduction in workers' terms and conditions in one fell swoop to levels that are not fair or acceptable. I find it extraordinary that the Independent Alliance is presiding over and standing by that and is not insisting on a proper policy perspective on this issue. If a State company is going to become insolvent, it de facto becomes an issue for this House and the Government.

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