'Everybody should examine what's going on in relation to pay rates and to keep them low - particularly where costs are being passed onto customers,' said Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey.
Mr Dempsey said that semi-state companies are commercial operations and that ministers should not get involved in their day-to-day running.
'All such commercial semi-states have to be allowed act as commercially as they can and have to act in accordance with their own circumstances.'
He concluded that the issue of cutting pay in commercial semi-state bodies was not formally on the agenda of tomorrow's Cabinet meeting.
Earlier, Minister for Communications and Energy Eamon Ryan had said that a review of workers' pay would be discussed by the meeting.
However, he denied an accusation by the Public Service Executive Union that the Government had an agenda to drive down wages.
SIPTU members in CIE have rejected calls by the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, for pay cuts in the commercial semi-state transport body.
'We totally reject the suggestion by Brian Lenihan that our members in CIE should be forced to take pay cuts,' said SIPTU organiser Willie Noone.
'We have already agreed a cost cutting plan with Dublin Bus in which we have taken considerable pain while we have reached agreement with the management of Irish Rail on many different occasions at every level. That is the way we will continue to negotiate on behalf of our members,' he said.
