The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, apologised yesterday to almost 500,000 citizens for the distress and dislocation they suffered when bus and train services were withdrawn throughout the State. So well she might. But an apology-in-passing does not reflect the level of responsibility her stewardship demands. As the sole shareholder in CIE, Ms O'Rourke is ultimately accountable for ensuring a public transport service is provided. She failed in that duty. Industrial relations within the company and contacts between the Minister and senior management have been allowed to fester to such an extent that a complete breakdown took place.
But blame for the sorry mess cannot be laid solely at the door of the Minister. Ms O'Rourke follows an undistinguished line of politicians who exhibited neither courage nor conviction in addressing the deep-rooted problems besetting public transport services in this State. There is a compelling case for the introduction of competition within the transport system. And this would appear to be the road the Minister intends to travel. Unfortunately, progress has been desperately slow. We have been promised competition for Dublin Bus for years but formal talks have yet to begin with the provider of an alternative service. And the mechanism whereby city routes would be put out to tender, along with varying levels of subsidy, has not been agreed. There is, in other words, a great deal of talk and very little specific action.
The need for a fundamental restructuring of CIE is repeatedly emphasised at Government level with the predictable result that morale within the related companies continues to sink and resistance to change intensifies. The whole system is a shambles, categorised by low basic wages and poor industrial relations that have flowed from reduced Government subsidies in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Successive governments have presided over a public transport system that has one of the lowest subvention levels in the EU. And it is compounded by the refusal to allow fare increases. When Ms O'Rourke sanctioned a 5 per cent fare increase last year, it was the first CIE received since 1991. Because of low basic pay, workers have depended on overtime and other special payments. This, in turn, has generated inflexibility, restrictive practices and demarcations within the companies.
None of this justifies yesterday's unofficial strike action by permanent way workers that brought trains to a standstill. The majority of those workers are members of SIPTU which, only last week, signed up to a new national agreement that specifically prohibited such action. In the same way, secondary picketing of DART and Bus Eireann services by striking workers is illegal. Following the intervention of SIPTU officials, yesterday, it is hoped that permanent way workers will agree to re-enter negotiations. As part of that process, train schedules, along with country bus and DART services, are expected to return to normal. But Dublin Bus workers will complete their three-day strike today and prepare for a resumption of the dispute next Monday when four days of disruption are threatened. The anger and militancy of Dublin Bus drivers is not in doubt. But the Government must hold to the pay terms agreed in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. The only way forward for CIE management and workers is through new productivity arrangements.