Rail disruption by the ATGWU was "simply unnecessary", the Minister for Public Enterprise told the Dail. Ms O'Rourke said it was not about pay and conditions and "does not have to happen at a time when we are trying to build public confidence in our railways".
She pointed out that unless "sanity returns" to the ATGWU she could not give any assurances about preventing rail disruption similar to last summer. She said the action was significantly disruptive when the Government was investing unprecedented levels of funding in the railways.
The Minister rejected calls by Mr Joe Higgins (Soc, Dublin West) for her to "bang the heads" of senior management and make them talk to their employees. He said the dispute was about a campaign "of isolation against, and the victimisation and mistreatment of a significant group of locomotive drivers". Ms O'Rourke replied that the matter was a dispute between two trade unions. "It is not a matter of banging anybody's head. It is a matter of adhering to the procedures of ICTU laid out and accepted in the main by the unions affiliated to it." The Minister agreed with Labour's transport spokesman, Mr Emmet Stagg, that the action was "totally disproportionate to the grievance outlined".