Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I understand that Cabinet committee D covers Irish Rail. Some people might be surprised that the next meeting of the committee is scheduled for 23 November given that there will be a national rail strike next Wednesday. It will be the first of five. The strike is being staged by a group of workers whose pay has effectively been frozen for ten years and who do a very good job.

Irish Rail carried 43 million passengers in 2016, an increase of more than 3 million on the previous year. The problems in the company do not stem from the workers but from successive Governments. In 2007, the State subsidy for Irish Rail was €189 million. Last year, it was €110 million. That is a massive cut, in the region of 70%.

I was told this morning that the workers have been offered a pay increase of 1.75% but there are lots of strings attached. The firs is that they would accept line closures and the second is that they would effectively refund their pay increase through forced redeployment, reductions in contracted hours, freezing of increments, etc. Some workers could have their pay cut by as much as €60 per week. The Taoiseach expressed concern about the effect of a strike on working people. There are two groups of working people involved here, namely, the commuters and the staff. By sticking to its policy of low investment in the company and low pay for staff, it seems that responsibility for the strike lies at the Government's door and that it is responsible for the difficulties faced by working people. Would the Taoiseach not consider convening a meeting of that Cabinet committee to ensure a decent pay increase for these hard-pressed workers?

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