Does the Taoiseach have any idea of how anxious the hundreds of thousands people are around the country who depend on public transport? The Government seems to be marching blindly over the cliff edge on this matter. For weeks we have been listening to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, saying it has nothing to do with him, but the fact is that Bus Éireann is fully owned by the Government on behalf of the people of Ireland, with ownership of the company being vested in the Minister. We have heard that Bus Éireann is facing possible insolvency and we know that its staff are standing on the brink of an all-out strike. Such a strike would make the already perilous financial position of the company even more acute. This has come about because management reneged on its existing deal with workers. We hear through the media that even some of the Taoiseach's colleagues are growing tired of the Minister abdicating his responsibility in the matter. He is a man with a title who will not take on the job he was given. I have asked repeatedly the Taoiseach to do something about this. We all know that these issues can be resolved but only through intervention and dialogue. I have asked the Taoiseach several times to ensure the Minister and the National Transport Authority, NTA, sit down with management and the trade unions in Bus Éireann to begin formulating a solution. Standing back is patently making matters worse and all the more difficult to reach the solution that has to be found.

The situation at Bus Éireann is another example of the Government's cack-handed approach to industrial relations. Nobody is saying a Minister should be involved in every meeting or intervene immediately in every industrial relations dispute. However, when matters are escalating, it is often the wise thing to do and has been the practice for decades. During the term of the last Government there were plenty of occasions when I, as Minister, was directly involved in meeting trade union representatives to defuse potentially damaging situations.

It was about listening, hearing and responding - in a word, managing. The same was true of other Ministers.

The involvement of a Minister does not always bring matters to a conclusion, and certainly not straight away, but it helps to move matters in the proper direction. We now have a Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport who simply will not engage. Apparently, he is waiting for a solution to fall from the sky. That will not happen. Will the Taoiseach direct the Minister to sit down with the NTA, Bus Éireann and the trade unions before this matter reaches the point of no return and significant damage is done not only to a valuable State company, but also to the hundreds of thousands of people who depend on Bus Éireann and other public transport companies to get to work and carry out their lives in a normal fashion?

I thank the Deputy. It is true that the Deputy met unions on many occasions and he had some serious matters to discuss in terms of public pay and the issues that the country had to face in an even more challenging time than now.

Nobody wants to see this strike go ahead. The Minister, Deputy Ross, gave a full and thorough briefing to the Cabinet yesterday on the situation here. Clearly, today's media coverage carries a number of the issues that the NTA has come forward with in terms of its analysis of the services currently provided on a number of the routes that are suggested to be changed, with further facilities and access on one of those routes in the west.

It is true that a solution will not drop out of the sky. The Deputy is absolutely correct, but the Minister, Deputy Ross, has been very strongly in support of a situation where unions and management sit down together at the WRC and work out a solution for the nub of the issue where there is a loss of income to the company on a daily basis. I think an intervention by the Minister directly is not what is required now. There is still an opportunity for unions and management to get together. The Minister has been in touch with the Minister in the Department of Social Protection both in respect of the access and the assessment of the free travel scheme, about which there was a perception that it was going to be taken away, which is not true. Obviously, the NTA itself has spoken out and guaranteed connectivity for areas in rural Ireland that would be affected by any change in the Expressway service.

I appeal to unions and management to use the facility available to them now, with the full support of the Minister and the Government, to work out a solution and an outcome in respect of the issue here. Nobody wants to see this happen. Unemployment is down to 6.6%. Our country is facing a number of challenges both internationally and in respect of Brexit. We do not want to see hundreds of thousands of people discommoded next week. As I said yesterday, 81% of people who travel on the Bus Éireann services do so where the service is professional, competent and carried out by very dedicated workers.

There is an issue, in that the State cannot, as the Deputy knows, directly subsidise the commercial arm of Bus Éireann, and that is an issue that can be dealt with, and will be dealt with, through the industrial machinery of the State, provided that people take up that option. The Government is fully supportive of the public service transport entity. We want to see that continue. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with and that is the place to deal with it. The Minister, Deputy Ross, has the full support of Government in setting out the opportunities for a conclusion to this particular serious dispute.

Change can be brought about, but not by standing away from the issues. It is for Ministers who own the company in the people's interest not to stand back and allow it to collapse. It is time for an intervention. If the Minister will not intervene, I will briefly raise the issue of funding. The Taoiseach will recall that, in the last budget while we were in office, we increased funding for the free travel scheme by €3 million. In this Government's budget in October, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Varadkar, failed to provide any increase in funding for the scheme. An increase would indirectly assist the company.

The Department of Social Protection will make savings from the point that the Taoiseach just made, namely, the thankfully declining unemployment rate. Will the Government deploy a modest part of those savings to increase the subvention to the free travel scheme so as to increase it to something like the actual cost of provision?

That would ease the problem somewhat. If the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport will not do anything, will the rest of the Government try to assist in averting the destruction of an important company?

That is a valid point. The subvention, through the PSO, has been increased. This year it increased by 11% and last year it was 13%. Bus Éireann itself benefited from a 21% increase in the subvention in 2016. As Deputy Howlin is aware, that is provided for PSO services only and not for commercial services.

In relation to the free travel issue Deputy Howlin mentioned, the Minister, Deputy Ross, has had discussions and has written formally to the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Varadkar. They have both instructed their officials to report back very quickly on their examination of the funding levels of that particular scheme. This is a very short, focused and prioritised piece of work and it is progressing very well. I understand that as soon as the officials report back, the Ministers expect to have discussions to resolve that particular issue satisfactorily. As I said yesterday, no amount of ministerial intervention will sort this out without the two sides having direct dialogue and the opportunity to do that lies with the WRC.

I am happy to note that the NTA has backed up what it said it would do in terms of assessing the connectivity and the requirements that might arise if the Expressway service is altered in any way. The PSO funding to Bus Éireann has been 24% for the rural transport programme. It is increasing. I am pleased the NTA has said we can cover connectivity for those areas that might be so affected. I appeal this morning to unions and management to get together, through the WRC, and see whether a solution can be reached. That will have the full support of Government. In respect to the analysis of the free travel scheme, both Ministers are working hard on the issue.