The Government was sharply attacked by the opposition parties for the transport chaos.
The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, asked the Taoiseach if he had any concept of the anger being felt by commuters about a succession of strikes in the rail service and soon in Aer Lingus, the absence of taxis, and the fact there was no sense that the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, or the Government, was in charge.
"We have a Minister who interferes politically when it suits her and then washes her hands of the problems of commuters when it suits, and a Taoiseach who does not seem to take any interest in the subject. Is the Taoiseach informed about the extent of anger at these strikes, and what, as the person in charge, will he do?"
The Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said the crisis had now reached a proportion that warranted a special emergency debate in the House.
Mr Ahern said he was only too well aware of the issues, which were reported to him by various Ministers on a daily basis. A number of disputes were before the Labour Court and the Labour Relations Commission, after consultation with the social partners and many meetings with the Minister for Public Enterprise and various Ministers about the strike.
"The Minister is making arrangements to meet the parties involved to discuss the industrial relations difficulties in Iarnrod Eireann and to find a way forward."
Mr Ahern said many of the findings of the Labour Court and the Labour Relations Commission, which were the industrial relations machinery of the State, had been turned down. Mr Bruton claimed the Taoiseach was running out of excuses and people to blame. "The truth is there is a poisonous relationship between the Minister and the board of CIE, which has been generated in considerable measure by herself, and she does not have the characteristics required to intervene successfully in such a matter other than to undermine the board."
Mr Ahern said the Government had acted on the taxi issues through the taxi forum and the announcement of additional taxi licences in 1997 and 1998. Pressed by Mr Quinn to say when the citizens of Dublin would see extra taxis on the street, Mr Ahern said licences would have been issued before the summer but for the court proceedings. "Mr Justice Murphy only issued the final orders from his judgment yesterday, and the Minister will introduce orders in the next day or two."