Minister for Transport Shane Ross has defended his handling of the Bus Éireann dispute at a special meeting of an Oireachtas Transport Committee.
Speaking on the sixth day of the strike in a dispute over cutbacks, he told committee members that only unions and management at the company could resolve the dispute.
Mr Ross insisted that the dispute could only be resolved by unions and management addressing the internal issues at the company, and not by a ministerial magic wand.
Several hundred Bus Éireann workers, meanwhile, took part in a demonstration outside Leinster House to coincide with the minister's committee appearance.
Dermot O'Leary of the National Rail and Bus Union told the crowd we are heading for the "mother of all strikes" and said politicians better be prepared.
SIPTU's Willie Noone said the dispute is only starting and said it was one that the union was here to win.
Willie noone,@SIPTU says Shane Ross is 'talking manure', & says the minister hates trade unions & everything they stand for pic.twitter.com/wusMd4BUaD
— Conor Hunt (@conorfhunt) March 29, 2017
Both Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann confirmed that there had been no disruption to their services as the protest got under way.
There had been fears that workers from the companies might leave work to join the protest, however, as of early afternoon there was no disruption to rail or Dublin Bus services.
Bus Éireann workers have taken indefinite strike action due to a dispute over management's decision to implement a survival plan for the State-owned company without union agreement.
Around 110,000 Bus Éireann customers are affected by the strike.
The board of Bus Éireann met earlier this week to consider management proposals for a survival plan including up to 300 redundancies.
The strike is estimated to be costing the company around €500,000 a day, though unions have disputed that figure.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said no attempt is being made by the Government to solve the dispute in Bus Éireann.
He told the Dáil the dispute would have been resolved by now if it affected the capital.
He said there was inertia and paralysis in the Minister for Transport's reaction to the dispute.
"I would put it to you, if this was Dublin Bus, if it was affecting the capital it would have been resolved much earlier," he said.
He said one senses that there is a hidden agenda to undermine the very concept of a public transport company.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe said the Workplace Relations Commission had dealt with 1,400 cases involving the CIÉ group, and had resolved 85% of these.
"The Government is standing behind the WRC and the Labour Court as the only forum in relation to that being done again."
He said that he and the Government are "absolutely committed to public transport, and the viability of Bus Éireann; this is why €263m was made available to support bus and rail in this State".
"It is exactly because the WRC have played a leading role in dealing with IR [industrial relations] difficulties in the CIÉ group alone - that is the only forum to deal with the current difficulties" Mr Donohoe said.
Speaking at the Oireachtas Committee, Mr Ross told TDs and senators that he had already intervened in areas where he could, including giving more money to Public Service Obligation services and examining reform of the licensing system.
He said an examination of subsidies to companies operating the free travel scheme, which have been frozen since 2010, was at an advanced stage and the Government was committed to giving more money.
All transport companies would benefit from this, he said, but it would not have a direct bearing on the current dispute.
However, many committee members urged the minister to intervene, and criticised the delay in addressing the company's financial difficulties.
Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy told him Bus Éireann was losing millions since he began in September.
Mr Ross responded that the last audited reports showed a loss of €6m, but he did not know the exact figures for 2016, which were not yet audited.
He told Mr Troy there was absolutely no agenda on his part or his department to push down wages.
Mr Troy asked about a recovery plan received by the department last September.
Mr Ross said the Grant Thornton report was not a plan, but an examination of the options open to the company.
Separately a business plan was under way for the company, but he said this could not be finalised due to the IR issues.
He said he was being briefed on the plan tomorrow.
He also asked about bringing in a facilitator, Mr Ross said it would be wrong to undermine the WRC and the Labour Court.
Mr Troy asked how much longer could they stave off the company becoming insolvent. Mr Ross said he had no intention of speculating on insolvency, that would be utterly irresponsible, he said.
Solidarity-PBP TD Mick Barry asked about plans to introduce a panel of temporary and part-time drivers, on zero-hour type contracts.
Mr Ross said he was not the employer. He said he was told by the company that they have no proposals for zero-hour contracts.
Mr Ross described as "rubbish"' that he had a privatisation agenda. He said his sole objective was to find a resolution to the dispute.
Sinn Féin transport spokesperson Imelda Munster said the Bus Éireann workers were not looking for a pay rise. She asked Mr Ross if he would accept a 30% pay cut.
Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said the dispute would not be resolved without Government intervention.
Mr Ross said he could not give money to Expressway, it was as simple as that.
He rejected Ms Murphy's assertion the company was being pushed to insolvency, but he acknowledged it was in danger of insolvency.
