Strike ‘cost Irish Rail €1.5m’ in lost revenue

Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe has said that the two-day rail strike by workers at Irish Rail had cost the company €1.5m in lost revenues.

Speaking to reporters at the Cliffs of Moher yesterday, Mr Donohoe said Irish Rail was already in a very difficult financial position before the €1.5m lost over Sunday and Monday.

Three further days of strike action are planned by Siptu and the National Bus and Railworkers’ Union later this month in response to Irish Rail imposing temporary pay-cuts last weekend.

Speaking at the launch of new Bus Éireann services along the Wild Atlantic Way in Clare, Mr Donohoe said Irish Rail had accumulated losses of €150m “and that is why I have emphasised that these wage cuts for a specific period time, with an average of 1.6%, are really vital to make a big contribution to the viability of Irish Rail”.

Mr Donohoe said that the next intervention in the dispute “is really going to be vital”.

He added that if the planned strike days “all go ahead, they will result in greater losses to the workers than the actual wage cuts themselves when implemented across that period.”

“My overall point to everyone involved is to seriously reflect now on the impact of the losses over the last two days, and to emphasise that a revenue loss of €1.5m to a company that is already in great difficulty is something that is going to make their current situation very difficult,” said Mr Donohue.

“I have heard again a number of people calling on me to become personally involved in the dispute at this stage.

“I would just urge people to remember that, when such calls are made, the question has to be asked whose money will pay for such an intervention and of course, the person who ultimately will pay is the tax-payer and the country at large.”

He said this issue that had been in various forums over 18 months “and the Labour Court itself has stated that the wage cuts are vital for the viability of the company”.

“These payroll savings have been implemented across many other parts of the CIÉ group and are now vital for the viability of the company,” he said.

Asked if he was confident that the dispute could be resolved before planned strike action later this month, Mr Donohoe said that “the bodies who have the expertise to deal with this are monitoring the situation extremely carefully, and I would urge everyone to reflect on the consequences of the last two days”.