The Government has approved the establishment of a new group aimed at breaking the deadlock over controversial cost- saving plans at Dublin Bus which have been repeatedly rejected by drivers.
Separately it has emerged that the National Transport Authority has cut €423,000 from the company's State public service subvention as a result of the three-day strike over the cost-saving proposals which brought bus services to a halt in Dublin in early August.
While drivers have rejected cost -saving proposals, they have been accepted by six other grades of staff in Dublin Bus.
In a statement the Government said that it along with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the employers' body Ibec believed that "a final effort should be made to resolve the matter without further strike action, which would be very disruptive for commuters and could have very serious consequences for the company, its employees and for the economy".
The Government is represented on the new group by the secretary general of the Department of Transport Tom O'Mahony and the secretary general of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, John Murphy. Congress is represented by its general secretary David Begg and Ibec by its chief executive Danny McCoy.
The terms of reference of the group are :
* to identify the issues in the proposals which have contributed to their rejection by the driving grade;
* to identify how those issues can be resolved;
* to make recommendations including a timescale for implementation.
The Group is to engage external expertise to carry out a detailed investigation on its behalf, including discussions with management, trade unions and drivers.
