Bus numbers just don’t add up

Many facets of Irish society have become imbued with a delusional sense of personal entitlement to a standard of living that is neither sustained by underlying economic fundamentals, or bears any rational relationship to the value, or contribution, that they provide in return — and that especially includes politicians.

The National Bus and Railworkers’ Union (NBRU) strike at Bus Éireann is also an apt illustration of this.

The business of Bus Éireann is divided almost on a 50:50 basis between the provision of school transport services, which currently requires the services of slightly more than 500 part-time bus drivers. Over the decade to the end of 2011, the number of journeys on school transport dropped by 8% and the number of part-time drivers employed by the company dropped by 8%.