Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to the determination and resolve of the 2,400 bus workers who have spent 12 days on the picket line defending themselves against unilateral and savage cuts to their pay and the public transport system.

In the Minister's attempt to justify his absence from the pitch and failure to intervene in this matter, he has repeated endlessly the mantra that he does not have a chequebook to solve this dispute. I will make a simple proposal. It was revealed over the weekend that Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, had €100 million that it did not expect thanks to a refund from Revenue. It would cost €7 million to €9 million to solve this dispute. That money is going a begging, it is not earmarked for anything and it is under the Minister's remit. Nothing would be more appropriate than money from TII being used to resolve the Bus Éireann dispute and ensure that these workers and public services do not have to accept savage cuts. Will the Minister use that money to resolve the dispute so that these workers can return to work on fair pay and conditions?

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