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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 14 Nov 2000

Vol. 525 No. 5

Rail Services Cancellation.

(Mayo): Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for choosing this matter on the Adjournment. The one-day rail strike, which has paralysed train services the length and breadth of the country once again, is but another example of how industrial relations in many of the State utilities have gone off the rails. The frightening aspect of each of the disputes is not only that there is no solution in sight for any of them, but they are all at a stage of strike, go slows or work to rule. The consequences for the economy and consumers are very serious.

On the current Iarnród Éireann dispute, there are no trains operating today apart from the DART services in Dublin. The withdrawal of labour by signal staff is the third rail strike this year. There has already been industrial action by permanent rail staff. Throughout the summer services outside Dublin were crippled for ten weeks because of the ILDA dispute. In spite of the fact that IFI in Arklow was closed down for weeks because of lack of supplies and the tourism industry was devastated, there was an eerie silence from the Minister and a marked disinclination by the Labour Court and the Labour Relations Commission to get involved. Finally, after millions of pounds in losses to Iarnród Éireann and multi-million pound damage to the economy, both the LRC and the Labour Court were eventually prevailed upon to try to work out a solution. As in the present dispute, why was decisive action not taken earlier?

Today's dispute concerns a new basic pay rate and new working arrangements by signal staff. My understanding is that unless a resolution is found to this problem, services will be again immobilised on 22 and 23 November and successively afterwards. We are told the company accepts that basic pay rates are low. Why then was it not possible to head off today's action by getting meaningful dialogue under way? There is now news that DART drivers are also serving notice of their intention to strike on 20 November.

Adding to the current climate of poor industrial relations, the Minister and the company could be heading for yet another confrontation with ILDA because of the unprecedented leaking by the Labour Relations Commission to a Sunday newspaper of a summary of the alleged findings of a rail safety consultants report on safety concerns expressed by the train drivers before the joint Labour Court-Labour Relations Commission, which was charged with the investigation, prior to the completion of the report. This is an extremely serious breach of long-established procedures. What, if anything, has the Minister and the Tánaiste done to establish the source of these leaks?

There is a huge industrial relations malaise within Iarnród Éireann. There is one litany of disputes after the other, with endless problems and inconvenience for passengers and industrial users. Unless the industrial relations problems within Iarnród Éireann are sorted out soon, irrespective of the investment poured into the rail system, there will be constant disruption and trouble ahead. It goes without saying that there is an urgent need for the Minister to carry out an immediate and detailed examination and audit of the human resource section and human resource policy of Iarnród Éireann and CIE to establish why they have not been more successful in building a peaceful industrial relations climate in the company.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on the Adjournment and I agree with everything he said.

It is a matter of grave concern that approximately 130 signal persons are on strike today in Iarnród Éireann, which has had the effect of closing down the mainline rail network and discommoding 50,000 passengers. I think of stations in Mullingar, Maynooth, Celbridge and so on which are in darkness and have no trains operating. This is not a once-off action and further actions are threatened next week in pursuit of demands. The action follows a breakdown in talks in recent days on new pay arrangements and conditions for signal persons.

A low basic pay regime, supplemented by overtime and allowances, has been a feature of Iarnród Éireann down the years. On putting proposals on the table, the company is endeavouring to address those issues. Signal persons currently work on average approximately 60 hours per week. The new proposals on offer from Iarnród Éireann include a pay deal with better basic pay and conditions, including a 48 hour week. When the deal is agreed, once-off compensation for individual loss of earnings will be paid on a scaled basis up to a maximum of £20,000, under a general formula predetermined by the Labour Court. For example, an employee who loses up to £3,200 per annum as a result of reduced overtime will be compensated at a rate of 2.5 times the loss, that is, £8,000. An employee who loses £5,000 will receive compensation in excess of £10,000.

This dispute has been the subject of very extensive talks with the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court. The issues have been refused and referred back to the parties on several occasions. The Government is committed to the future development of the railway system by providing in excess of £2.2 billion to public transport. A significant proportion of this, £1 billion in total, has been provided for investment in the rail network. Crucial to the success of that investment is confidence in the capacity of CIE and Iarnród Éireann to deliver these ambitious targets in a cost-effective manner and on time. Increased customer confidence in a reliable and effective service is also critical to the successful development of the public transport option.

I am concerned that the recent and ongoing cycle of industrial relations unrest has the potential to further undermine confidence in the railway system at a time of unprecedented levels of investment. Iarnród Éireann cannot develop the public transport rail network required for the future development of the country where successive claims by one group after another are adversely affecting customer confidence.

There is a need to restore good working relations and focus on the primary objective of the company, the delivery of quality rail transport. The taxpayer needs to be assured in relation to the capacity of CIE and Iarnród Éireann to deliver the targets set out in the national development plan. Customer confidence in a reliable and effective service is also critical to the successful development of the public transport option.

After consultation today with the social partners and the management of CIE, I am arranging to meet all the parties involved tomorrow with a view to discussing a new way forward for dealing with the industrial relations environment of Iarnród Éireann.

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