A "long hot summer" for the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, was threatened yesterday in the form of industrial action by bus and rail workers.
The National Bus and Rail Union said action was "almost inevitable" following a decision by the Minister to issue two new licences for private bus services in Dublin. The union had announced earlier this week that it was reviewing its continued involvement in negotiations with the Department of Transport on a planned shake-up of bus services.
Mr Brennan wants to introduce increased competition from private bus operators, in Dublin and elsewhere.
The NBRU, however, claimed the Department had failed to produce definitive proposals this week as had been agreed. In the meantime, it said, the Department was proceeding with the issuing of licences to private companies competing with Bus Éireann, thereby placing members' jobs under threat. It said its executive committee would meet tomorrow to decide whether to remain in talks with the Department.
The row worsened yesterday when the union said it had learned that two new licences had been issued for services in Dublin. One is to run from the city centre to the CityWest business park, and the other from Sydney Parade DART station, also to CityWest.
Mr Liam Tobin, the union's general secretary, accused Mr Brennan of allowing private companies to "cherry-pick" profitable routes. He said the new services would operate at peak times only and would be "jam-packed", while off-peak travellers would continue to have to rely on Dublin Bus. "If this is not cherry-picking, I do not know what is."
As a result of the development, the union's executive would have "few options" when it met tomorrow, he said.
"As we've said before, it looks as if Mr Brennan may get the long hot summer he has been yearning for since April 2003."
A spokesman for the Minister said the two licences, both issued to Morton's Coaches, were "very restricted", allowing pick-ups at either end only, and did not compete with any existing services.
The Department was obliged under law, he added, to process licence applications within a limited time frame. Reforming that law was among the objectives of the current talks with unions.
Unions at CIÉ already have a mandate to strike, following ballots in favour of industrial action. Implementation of a strike had been put on hold to allow talks with the Department to take place.
Talks on a new national pay deal, meanwhile, continued at Government Buildings yesterday.
Government, employer and union representatives are attempting to reach agreement on pay rates for the remaining 18 months of the three-year Sustaining Progress partnership programme. It is understood that discussions yesterday focused on a range of pay-related issues, such as pensions, and that the talks today will return to the central matter of pay.
