Tomorrow, commuters face another rail strike on one of the busiest days for public transport users. Since August, the National Bus and Rail Union, NBRU, and the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union, SIPTU, have warned that unless genuine efforts were made to resolve the outstanding issues, a strike was inevitable. This was almost three months ago, and there has been virtually no input from the Government to try to find a resolution. The Government has taken a hands-off approach, which seems to be the culture when dealing with relatively substantial matters. The Government allows a crisis to deepen and develop, and what will follow is chaos for travellers. To take this approach is unfair on people who depend so much on public transport as a means of getting to work or attending school or college. Intercity, commuter and DART services will face significant disruption across the country, and although the strike is expected to be confined to a number of hours in the morning, it will have a knock-on effect for the day.

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Donohoe, suggests it is a very serious situation, while observing from the side lines, like a casual observer who has no involvement in the case. The gap between management and workers appears to be widening over the past three months. Workers believe they have contributed substantially to increasing productivity, and they have. They have made many changes that have improved the company’s viability. However, management consistently says they must find more savings. We are all aware of the core reason for the need to increase productivity and make savings, which is the continued depletion of investment in public transport over a number of years. I do not expect a lecture from the Tánaiste on what happened under the previous Administration.

The Deputy does not need one.

Given that it is the standard response from the Tánaiste, I am letting her know I am aware of those facts. I expect her to respond to my questions, rather than give her usual diatribe.

The truth hurts.

Workers are being required to work more for less take-home pay. I am well able to handle it. The Deputy might not be. He will have to deal with it shortly.

Fianna Fáil's answer is not to mention the war.

Fianna Fáil's answer is to throw more money at it.

The Tánaiste needs to decide and tell us what kind of public transport system her Government wishes to have in place and leave for the future. From listening to the unions last night, one would not be filled with hope about finding a resolution to the strike. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, has been busy commending the gigantic effort everybody connected with the talks has put in and he seems to be concerned about the upheaval if the strike goes ahead. However, his only involvement in the strike to date has been to lecture all those concerned that Irish Rail is losing €1 million per month. Like a hurler on the ditch, he is appealing for the strike to be called off. His mantra is that Irish Rail must live within its funding, and it seems to be the Tánaiste's mantra too. He said, "Resolution of the dispute has to be found within the financial framework".

I will ask the Tánaiste some straight questions and ask her to limit her response to answering them. Does she accept that there are increased demands on the public transport system and that the changes already introduced by workers have assisted greatly in making savings and increasing productivity? Does she think it is right that the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, has not intervened to ensure a successful outcome to the process that is under way and prevent a strike?

The most successful way of settling any dispute is through mediation and discussion, and this is precisely what has been ongoing for a long time. Talks aimed at averting a planned three-hour strike by train drivers tomorrow will resume later. These talks have been undertaken under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. It is very important we settle the dispute. In all the material put forward by both sides, there are grounds for reaching an agreement. The dispute centres on claims by train drivers for payment for past productivity measures such as taking on new safety responsibilities and operating new services. Iarnród Éireann has said it is willing to share the benefits arising from future productivity measures the drivers undertake. This is the kernel of how, with the assistance of very experienced industrial relations negotiators, we can reach the desired outcome I assume everybody in the House, including the Deputy, would wish for, that we would not have a rail strike on a bank holiday weekend.

The biggest losers would be rail services, commuters and people travelling for the bank holiday weekend who would have to find alternative forms of transport. Given that this is a major revenue earning weekend for Iarnród Éireann, I appeal to both parties in the dispute to continue talking so as to arrive at an agreed settlement where there is the possibility, in terms of what is on the table, to reach an agreement.

It would be particularly helpful to those travelling over the weekend and to regular commuters on their morning commute in and out of work, especially in urban areas, if the dispute could be settled by negotiation. During the recent budget announcements, Deputies will have noted that the Department of Social Protection's contribution to public transport has increased from €77 million to €80 million. This increase will underpin the services provided by the Department, especially to people over the age of 66 through the free travel scheme. We have been issuing new free travel cards, together with identifiable photographs, to pensioners. As a daughter of a railway family - my father and grandfather worked on the railways - I assure the House that like the Department of Social Protection as a whole, I am committed to seeing every effort made to settle this dispute in the interests of the travelling public and of train drivers, who have an important job because they take on the safety of hundreds of passengers over each journey. I am committed to seeing this dispute resolved in a way that secures the future of Irish Rail and allows the company, which is very important right throughout the country, to go forward and make progress.

It is clear from the Tánaiste's response that she understands the gravity of the situation and the importance of Irish Rail's activities. I think she appreciates the important work the workers are doing. It is fine that she has made those observations, but in her position as Tánaiste she is in a position to make a substantial contribution to resolving this issue. I suggest the Government needs to interface with management and set out in a clear way how it intends to increase the level of subvention that is required by our public transport system in a growing economy. Like the Minister for Finance, who was displaced from his seat beside the Tánaiste a few moments ago by the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, the Tánaiste regularly tells us about the positive impact of the 6% growth in the economy. I remind them that the growth in the economy is accompanied by an increased demand for infrastructure to be provided by the State. When the economy is growing, the demands on the public transport system are growing. That requires further investment. I would have thought it would be important for workers and management alike to see some degree of certainty about how the Government intends to address that funding requirement into the future. I do not want to be political when I say it is important for the Government to set out a clear strategy. It is not enough for it merely to observe; it needs to make an input. Unions and workers are fair-minded people. They need certainty. They need to know that the Government supports the entire public transport infrastructure. They would be forgiven for questioning that because, as the Tánaiste-----

The Government needs to support the workers.

-----will recall, when this Government came into office, it appointed a Minister of State with responsibility for public transport only for that office subsequently to disappear under the cover of a Cabinet reshuffle. The Minister of State in question did not disappear but was elevated to his current position as Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, and he has had his own trials and tribulations in that role. In the minds of public transport workers, the Government's stated commitment to public transport vanished during the lifetime of the Government. The Government has quite a bit to do if it is to reassure them.

I do not think the Tánaiste answered the first question I asked. Does she accept that the productivity of the workers has contributed significantly to the viability of the company? Does she think it is acceptable that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, who is responsible for this matter, still remains outside this discussion? I do not think he has contributed in a way that would assure the workers that if they avoid the proposed strike, the Government will uphold its commitment to a long-term plan of investment in the public transport system of this State.

An increase of €28 million in the public service obligation subvention to the public transport companies was provided for in budget 2016. As this is the first time this has been done on such an enormous scale, I suggest that any ordinary person who is aware of the increase, including anyone who works in the CIE group of companies, will see it as a significant vote of confidence in public transport in Ireland and a commitment to the future of rail services. More important, as the Deputy is probably aware, work is under way at the moment to reopen the two-track tunnel under the Phoenix Park that has not been used for decades. This demonstrates that the Government is fully committed to public transport. The tunnel in question will be open this time next year. It will give people coming from Cork and particularly from south Kildare on commuter lines direct access into Connolly Station. That is an absolute vote of confidence in the future of rail in Ireland.

Hear, hear.

I would have thought that as the transport spokesperson for Fianna Fáil, Deputy Dooley would have welcomed that.

I did.

Deputy Ó Fearghaíl welcomed it.

I also want to talk about the enormous schedule of investment that has been committed to.

That is not going to resolve the strike that is due to take place on Friday.

The Deputy asked me about the Government's commitment to Irish Rail. I am answering his question.

The drivers deserve a lot more.

If Deputy Dooley examines the capital programme that was launched two weeks before the budget, he will see that a new hub is to be developed at Broombridge.

The Labour Party is blaming the train drivers.

It will be called after a famous mathematician, William Rowan Hamilton, and will be open in two years time.

It does not add up.

It will be known as the Broombridge Hamilton hub. An immense amount of funding is being invested in the capital programme between now and 2021. Significantly and importantly for people working in Irish Rail, to whom I want to address my remarks as well as addressing them to Deputy Dooley-----

Deputy Dooley will convey the Tánaiste's views to them.

-----who must know all of this already, given that this is his brief, the electrification of the line between Connolly Station and Maynooth will take place over the next four years.

Connolly would have paid the workers.

Over the period of this capital programme, the initial phase of the full electrification of the line from Dublin to the south will involve the stretch of the line as far as Hazelhatch.

The Government needs to give back to the workers what it took from them over the past five years.

I assume Deputy Dooley is a regular rail user, as I am myself.

It is not in Tulla, in fairness.

People who are regular rail users will know that the electrification of the major railway lines is a huge commitment to the future of the Irish rail network, which plays a critical role in social development, in commerce and in moving people around the country.

More lectures.

When Deputy Dooley read through the details of the budget, he must not have noticed that the Department of Social Protection has committed an extra €3 million to free travel.

It should be more. One would think the Government was breaking the bank.

This is in addition to the development of the free travel cards-----

What about the extra €3 for pensioners?

-----which are important to the future of the railways in Ireland in terms of verifying people's identities.

All that is doing is meeting the demographic need.

This Government considers investment in public transport to be an absolute must for this country, especially under our global climate change requirements. We provided for such investment in the recent budget. I thank Deputy Dooley for his interest in the matter.

Now, Timmy. All the details are in the blacks.

Follow that, Timmy.

This why we have a strike looming.

I call Deputy Ó Caoláin.

Fianna Fáil is either supporting the commuters or it is not.

The train drivers are being blamed.

Commuters have an interest as well.

Timmy 0, Joan 1.

Order, please. I have called Deputy Ó Caoláin.