Efforts to solve Bus Éireann’s financial woes were too little, too late
Attempts to shore up massive losses have simply been too little too late.
Bus Éireann, which is losing about €500,000 each day workers stay on strike, is faced with insolvency in the coming months if it cannot make €30m worth of cuts. These measures will impact on the take-home pay of employees — the nub of the current industrial dispute — and will also curtail and even end some bus routes.
Much of the deficit relates to the firm’s Expressway services, which it operates as a commercial entity competing directly with other private bus companies on the same routes, who don’t have anywhere near the same overheads or clerical staffing levels.
And yes, it must be acknowledged the company is in a hugely difficult position given the quality of alternative private operators. It also must be noted that some cost-saving measures have been implemented in recent years and the company has been working to modernise its fleet and to bring in more streamlined systems.
However, Bus Éireann has gone from recording surpluses of €400,000 in 2013 and €7.2m in 2014 to a loss of €5.6m in 2015. Last year the losses grew to around €9m.
The spiralling finances have partly been blamed on the restoration of pay cuts as well as a spike in the number of insurance claims and payouts. However, it is also clear that little was done to address a massively inefficient company until it entered crisis mode.
Appearing before the Transport Committee in January, Bus Éireann acting CEO Ray Hernan said buses fitted with fuel efficiency systems had not in fact switched these cost-saving systems on.
“If we save 1% that’s the equivalent of €350,000 a year,” Mr Hernan said.
The company also maintained a pool of 250 spare drivers in its depots to cover annual leave, sick leave and auxiliary demand, which had cost around €13m in overtime hours each year.
Some of the emergency measures Bus Éireann set out to implement include changes that many people would have expected to have been in place: like servicing buses during non-peak hours so that as many buses as possible are available at busy times and vehicles do not have to be hired in.
Again Mr Hernan highlighted how saving could be made in this area: “We need to optimise use of our bus fleet so that we have the maximum amount of buses at peak times, to meet peak demand. At the moment, we are not meeting that target.
“The second is that we must optimise the rostering schedules that we have for our drivers. That is not being done in the most efficient way to maximise the usage and utilisation of those key people within our organisation.”
Changes to rostering, overtime and holiday leave do invariably lead to reductions in take-home pay for workers, many of whom rely on these allowances and see them as part of core wages.
Both sides realise savings need to be made but cannot work out an accommodation.
Which has brought us to this point, where the travelling public is left without a bus service.
