Bus Éireann services to run today as immediate strike threat lifted

Bus Éireann services will run as normal today following commitments given during talks on savings involving management and unions at the Labour Relations Commission yesterday.

Negotiations on ending the dispute, which was suspended on Monday evening for 48 hours to facilitate the LRC talks, continued last night. Sources close to the talks expected they would continue well into the early hours of today.

The company confirmed in a statement that 24 hours' notice would be given before any resumption of the strike action, which crippled services on Sunday and Monday.

Earlier, Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said his priorities were the restoration of full services without the threat of industrial action and cost savings.

Speaking in Dublin at lunchtime yesterday he described the talks as “very difficult”.

“The important thing from my point of view is to protect the passengers and that’s what this is all about as far as I’m concerned; protecting services for passengers.”

Meanwhile Ibec, the group that represents Irish business, has called for the reform of Irish labour law to minimise the disruption of essential public services, such as public transport, health and education, during industrial disputes. It called for new legal provisions that would guarantee the delivery of key services and provide more time to resolve a dispute even after a ballot for strike.

Separately, discussions continued yesterday at the LRC on the proposed Croke Park II agreement involving the Unite union.

The discussions are understood to have lasted some two hours, and further engagement is expected during coming days.