Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important to note that the trade unions and the management of Bus Éireann - both sides - have publicly acknowledged that there are efficiency issues in Bus Éireann. This is precisely why the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, is still available for talks to resolve the dispute. It will not be resolved on the streets. It will only be resolved around the table, where all strikes are resolved. This is exactly the opportunity to sort out the dispute which the Minister, Deputy Ross, has identified on so many occasions.

I understand Deputy Smith's legitimate comment about the drivers and those who work for Bus Éireann. Last year, the taxpayer provided €230 million to Bus Éireann across the public service obligation, PSO, scheme, the free travel scheme, the capital and the school transport funding programmes, and that is a significant amount of money which has been increasing over recent years. Funding for the public service obligation units has increased over the past two budgets, but subvention is provided only for the PSO services. It cannot, by law, be provided for a commercial service such as Expressway, and this is where the difficulty is. This is a dispute within Bus Éireann involving, among other matters, the commercial Expressway service. One union has announced it will ballot members in other companies which are not party to this dispute. I hope that does not happen because the opportunity remains for the unions and the management of Bus Éireann to get together. The Minister, Deputy Ross, is playing his part-----

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