Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I can certainly assure the Deputy that the Minister, Deputy Ross, is in the country because he was at the Cabinet meeting this morning and briefed it on the rail dispute, the options open to us and the next steps that may follow.

I hear a real contradiction in the position being put across from Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin. I am not sure if the Deputy hears the contradiction but it is there. Both the leader of Sinn Féin and of Fianna Fáil have said we need to invest in our railways, that we need to make them safer and we need to improve line speeds. They argue we need more carriages and capacity, better services for passengers and to deal with climate change. At the same time, the parties, or Sinn Féin at least, seems to be arguing that it supports demands for pay rises substantially above the increases being paid to others in the public and private sector.

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