Employers' organisations and chambers of commerce around the country have called for the deregulation of the transport network and the introduction of competition to prevent future disruptions.
The Dublin Chamber of Commerce said licences should be issued to private operators immediately so that an alternative service for Dublin commuters can be provided.
While a review is taking place of the legislation which regulates transport competition, a change in legislation could take up to two years, the chamber pointed out.
Mr Ciaran Conlon, the chamber's campaigns manager, said legislation allowed the Minister for Public Enterprise to grant licences and she should immediately consider granting some licences to private operators. He also called for the introduction of a tendering system in the medium-term for operators, who would be required to meet certain standards in terms of efficiency and safety. Mr Conlon added that CIE should be broken up into its constituent parts. There needed to be new thinking behind the provision of transport.
Mr Turlough O'Sullivan of IBEC said competition was essential if a quality service was to be introduced. "No group delivering an essential service should have a monopoly," he said. The immediate problem was with Dublin Bus, where competition should be brought in immediately, he said. There should be investment in railways rather than the introduction of competition.
He also called for negotiations between the ICTU and employers' organisations to reach a commitment to a code of practice which would see strikes eliminated. The Chambers of Commerce of Ireland said a certain level of transport should be provided when strikes occurred in an essential service such as transport. Mr Pat Delaney of the Small Firms Association said the strike would not have gone ahead if there had been competition. Special licences should have been organised to deal with the crisis and he was disappointed that a contingency plan had not been worked out.
He added that while there would have to be a degree of State regulation of transport, general deregulation was necessary. CIE could survive, he said, provided it was competitive. The modern economy was based on competition and all transport services would have be exposed to other operators, including rail.
Mr Delaney said that absenteeism had not been a big problem for his members but that productivity was being lost through people turning up late for work.
Mr Michael Geary, chief executive of Cork Chamber of Commerce, also called for dividing CIE and introducing competition. "It is totally wrong that our public transport is a public monopoly," he said. Pressure needed to be put on the Government to change CIE.
Ms Maeve Joyce, public relations officer with Galway Chamber of Commerce, said deregulation and competition for Galway would be one of the options which would be considered.
Mr Frank O'Donoghue, chief executive of Waterford Chamber of Commerce, said a system similar to that in the UK should be brought in Ireland.
"Private enterprise should now be allowed to take over," he said.