Cllr. Ted Tynan
The Workers’ Party have said that the latest crisis at Irish Rail is the result of years of underfunding and one of the lowest levels of state subvention per capita in Europe.
Cllr. Ted Tynan, Workers’ Party Cork City councillor, said that there seemed to be a clear choreography in Irish Rail’s report to the Labour Court, carried in today’s (Tuesday) Irish Times, which he said was almost identical to the pronouncements of Bus Éireann as a prelude to its recent cuts plan.
“I am in no doubt”, said Cllr. Tynan, “that all of this is being co-ordinated at the highest level in the CIÉ group and probably in close cooperation with the government and the National Transport Authority. A gun is once again being put to the heads of public transport workers who are expected to carry the can for years of deliberate underfunding of the company. Once again the workers will be made look like the villains of the piece as they fight to protect their jobs and conditions of employment.”.
Cllr. Tynan said that the financial shortfall at Irish Rail pales into significance compared with the massive annual repayments this country makes in relation to the banking debt. “We could wipe out Irish Rail’s entire cumulative debts and put the company on a sound footing if we stopped repaying banking debt for just ten days. We have to decide as a country whether we want a proper public transport network with fairly paid workers or once again punish workers and the general public for the government’s bad decisions”.
“Are are now going to see workers blamed for standing up for their rights and to protect their families or is this government going to ensure the survival of our rail services though proper funding?”, queried Cllr. Tynan.