290 jobs are to lost at Dublin Bus as part of the company's cost cutting measures. 120 buses will also be withdrawn from the fleet. The company said the cuts were due to the challenging economic environment.
In 2007, the company made a profit of almost €5m, but in 2008 it lost €10m and those losses are projected to rise to more than €30m this year.
Dublin Bus said no routes will be removed but that some services would be amalgamated and that the frequency of buses would be adjusted in some areas.
It said the cutbacks will have as little impact as possible on the travelling public.
The new plans are due to come into effect in March and Dublin Bus said it will inform the public about the changes in the run-up to that.
The 290 job losses will happen across all grades at the bus company. 160 of these will be compulsory redundancies.
But the NBRU and SIPTU have said they will oppose any compulsory redundancies and work to protect jobs. The unions said they will consider these and other cost cutting proposals in the coming days.
An NBRU statement said any attempt to impose compulsory job cuts was 'totally unacceptable' and would be resisted. It also said the cuts would affect services for vulnerable groups and force more motorists on to the roads.
