Shane Ross accused of being ‘Pontius Pilate’ in bus dispute

Minister for Transport Shane Ross was accused in the Dáil on Wednesday of “classic Pontius Pilate behaviour” by refusing to engage with the Bus Éireann dispute.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin also accused the company’s management of operating a conflict-driven and provocative strategy in dealing with workers on the Expressway service. The company is “taking a sledgehammer to workers’ terms and conditions”, he said.

Mr Martin criticised the Government’s approach to rural development and pointed out that the Luas and Dublin Bus disputes had been resolved.

“Was that because those companies are based in Dublin?” he asked. “To hell with the regions and rural Ireland and let chaos prevail,” is the message being sent, he warned.

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The Cork South Central TD asked why Mr Ross and his department could not engage with the National Transport Authority, Bus Éireann management and the unions.

Pontius Pilate behaviour

He said Mr Ross was “engaging in classic Pontius Pilate behaviour by hiding behind the industrial relations fig leaf and refusing to engage. He is privately comfortable with the undermining of this public-transport company and the all-out assault on the terms and conditions of its workers.”

Pointing to the cuts in public subvention from €45 million in 2010 to €36 million in 2016, Mr Martin said the free-travel contribution for each passenger on Expressway was €4.86 when the average fare was €11.78 and the company was putting the entire burden of its €12 million losses on the workers.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny told him, however, that Mr Ross was very anxious that the machinery of State would be used. All other strikes had been dealt with this way and the Expressway dispute, on the verge of all-out strike, would have to be settled through this method. The Taoiseach added that “it’s got to be sorted”.

He said it was very disappointing that talks between management and unions had broken down and “potentially there is a catastrophic position for hundreds of thousands of passengers if this spreads throughout the country”.

Mr Kenny said there was far more being done for rural Ireland than ever before and that 81 per cent of rural bus routes received a public subvention.

‘Important routes’

The Taoiseach also stressed that while discussion was under way about the closure of three routes – Dublin-Derry, Westport from Athlone and Dublin-Clonmel – no decision has been made. “These are important routes. There is no threat to rural services,” Mr Kenny insisted.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said there was no point in the Government or Mr Ross “asking others to sit down when he refuses to sit down”.

“This race to the bottom is completely unacceptable,” said Mr Adams. “You say rural Ireland is top priority for the Government but there is no evidence for that.”

Labour leader Brendan Howlin claimed Bus Éireann was ignoring a registered employment agreement that is in place covering bus workers.

He said it was “open to the Government in the interest of industrial relations and sectoral pay policy, to put in place a system of sectoral employment orders”.

Mr Kenny told Mr Howlin that if what he was said was true that management wished to bypass the rights of workers, the facilities of the Workplace Relations Commission were there “for everybody to use to their fullest extent”.