asked the Taoiseach if he will take immediate steps to have investigated the question of restoring the employment position which existed before the present bus strike in order to put an end to the widespread hardship which is being experienced by the bus-using public of Dublin.
Private Notice Question. - CIE Bus Strike.
The relevant statute provides that the rates of pay, hours of duty and other conditions of service of the CIE employees involved shall be regulated in accordance with agreements between the Board and the trade unions representative of the employees, and the Government have no function in this regard.
The machinery provided by the Industrial Relations Acts is available for the prevention and settlement of trade disputes arising between the parties.
Would the Taoiseach agree that the situation now existing in this city is one of crisis for thousands of working people who have to walk to work in the morning and walk home at night to outlying districts, and in this situation in which the workers and the management are in dispute and in which the management are culpable——
The Deputy's question may not become a speech.
——does the Taoiseach not think that he has a duty to the citizens to intervene?
There is adequate machinery for the settlement of disputes between the parties involved here but the Deputy is no doubt aware of the complication of the fact that this strike is, as of now, unofficial.
The remaining questions will appear on tomorrow's Order Paper.
Before proceeding with the Order of Business, I ask to be allowed to raise the subject matter of the Private Notice Question on the Adjournment.
I shall communicate with the Deputy.