Irish Rail and Dublin Bus to support Bus Éireann; all-out transport strike on the cards

A national transport strike is now on the cards with Irish Rail and Dublin Bus workers expected to follow their colleagues in Bus Éireann onto the picket lines.

Hundreds of thousands of commuters have already been left stranded since Friday, as the fifth day of an all-out strike at Bus Éireann begins.

The board of the transport company was yesterday unable to sign off on its 2016 accounts and could not set a budget for the year ahead because of its precarious financial situation which has put it on the brink of insolvency.

The company is now looking at up to 300 redundancies. However, Bus Éireann has warned that without a plan which “encompasses the necessary work practice changes to generate savings” it will not be able to fund a voluntary redundancy scheme.

Stephen Kent, chief commercial officer with Bus Éireann said that, while he hoped the company will not have to seek examinership, it was “certainly a matter for the board to consider”.

Dublin Bus and Irish Rail workers are to be balloted next week on a “sympathy” strike in support of Bus Éireann employees.