Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I too extend our sympathy and solidarity to the family of Captain Mark Duffy and to those other families who still agonisingly await the return of their loved ones.

Yesterday, hundreds of people marched with the workers of Bus Éireann to the Dáil as part of their campaign to protect their livelihood and the public transport network in this State. Six days into their strike action, those workers are furious, frustrated and bewildered. Yesterday, inside the gates, the man who has the responsibility for this dispute to be resolved in a fair way, the Minister, Deputy Ross, was once again telling the Oireachtas transport committee that he will not intervene and will not do his job. He is happy to hide away in his office and sit on his hands while travel chaos unfolds all around communities who depend on the services of Bus Éireann. It is as though he found the entrance into Narnia and only pops back through the wardrobe every now and then to remind us of just how incompetent he is.

It is time for the Minister, Deputy Ross, to grow up. The invisible transport Minister is so hell-bent on pursuing his mission for privatisation that he is clearly oblivious to the fury of the workers and the exasperation of passengers throughout the State. Those workers who have children to feed and rent or mortgages to pay fear losing between 20% and 30% of their incomes. Passengers cannot get to work, to hospital appointments or to visit family members who rely upon their support. The crisis in the public transport network is causing hardship, stress and disarray. That is the fault of this Minister and the Government. The public is boiling with anger and rightly so. It is very important that this anger be directed at the right people and directed at those responsible. Those responsible are the Minister, Deputy Ross, the Government and the management at Bus Éireann.

The workers who stood on Kildare Street yesterday are taking a brave stand against a blatant attack on their livelihoods and against the dismantling of a public service. It is not easy to be on strike. It is not easy for Bus Éireann workers to be on strike, but what choice do they have when faced with a Minister who is absolutely intent on shutting down Bus Éireann as a public service? We now have the ludicrous situation in which the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport - the person responsible for keeping Ireland moving - is willingly presiding over transport grinding to a halt. The Minister, Deputy Ross, is actually sabotaging the transport network and this cannot be allowed. His position of non-intervention and his flimsy excuses cut no ice, neither with the public nor with the workers. I have a simple question. When will the Government demand that the Minister, Deputy Ross, end his disastrous policy of non-intervention? When will the Government finally demand he do his job?

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