Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Leader to indicate whether the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport will come to the House soon, particularly in light of newspaper reports indicating CIE is in a severe financial crisis. I raised the issue to establish the policy of the Department. The Minister announced he would provide ¤36 million, which he subsequently withdrew. The annual report of CIE is due in the coming days and will not make for positive reading. Attempts are being made to squeeze more from unions. A cursory reading suggests the unions in the three companies, Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann and CIE, have been more than compliant in terms of making severe adjustments. There has been a reduction in the workforce and it looks like there will be further redundancies. My main concern is that it has been flagged that there may be the closure of further services. These services are not generating passenger numbers as high as earlier expectations. The sad reality is if the company goes down that road, it will be the death knell of rural Ireland. We have already had a controversy over the withdrawal of bus stops from Bus Éireann expressway routes across the north west and west. In that context, I want to establish the Department's policy on transport in light of the crisis emerging in CIE.