Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In the programme for Government, there is a commitment to investigate a full review of public transport policy to ensure that services are sustainable into the future and meet the needs of a modern economy. The Minister will know that the Government is the sole shareholder and that it has a responsibility and a duty to ensure that our public services function properly and effectively in the public interest. The Minister should also acknowledge that the Government is failing in this. Today, workers from Bus Éireann will be outside Leinster House demanding that the Government, and particularly the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, engage, urgently and in a proper fashion, with the unions and the management to seek a resolution to this strike. In the face of action that is having serious consequences for tens of thousands of citizens caused by the Government's policy, particularly citizens in rural Ireland, it is unacceptable that the Government has chosen to stick its head in the sand. Will the Minister agree to an early debate in the Dáil on the Bus Éireann strike and will the Minister, Deputy Ross - Minister "Now you see him, mostly you do not" - do the right thing and engage with the unions and management?

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