Business organisations have said the two-day bus strike would result in losses in the Dublin area, particularly to small enterprises with tight margins and low-paid workers.
Tourism interests have also warned that any protracted strike would damage the industry. The policy director of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, Mr Declan Martin, said yesterday that the worst-hit areas appeared to be the marginal businesses with lower paid workers, some in industrial estates such as Finglas, Tallaght and Walkinstown.
"These tend to be locations where businesses compete on tight margins and where they would be dependent on a bus service to get people in, as people would not have cars."
He said the city centre was different as people were able to get lifts in and travel by DART. Some of the bigger companies gave money for taxi fares and arranged car pools. The city centre had held up reasonably well but the bigger stores were reporting 15 per cent to 20 per cent reductions for yesterday.
"This would amount to £2 million [for yesterday] and that is not quite as bad as expected but clearly there is a significant concern about today [Saturday]." Aer Rianta was grateful for Air Coach, ironically a new competitive bus service. "If it were not for the Air Coach the airport would have been in chaos," a spokesman said.
The director of the Small Firms' Association, Mr Pat Delaney, said: "The impact on business is likely to be felt throughout the two days as employees are late arriving for work and may have to depart early."
He asked why there was no contingency plan, adding that it was time to look for alternatives in public transport.
The chief executive of Dublin Tourism, Mr Frank McGee, said: "The tourists that are here are not going to be back again and a strike like this is going to have an impact on their memories of Dublin. A protracted strike would have a negative effect."
The head of research at ISME Ltd (Irish Small and Medium Enterprises' Association), Mr Jim Curran, said in the competitive marketplace small companies in particular relied on an element of certainty in their day-to-day business. The denial to staff of public transport was affecting this.
"In the process, there is a considerable cost in lost man hours and trade, with the brunt being borne once again by the small business community."
Mr Brian Goff, of the Dublin City Centre Business Association, said members had reported that the day was pretty good and estimated losses in some stores to be at around 5 per cent to 7 per cent. Some 40 per cent of Dubliners did not have access to private cars and a protracted strike would be a real problem.
IBEC's director, Mr Turlough O'Sullivan, called on the NBRU to provide an emergency bus service at morning and evening peak times to allow people to get to work.