The acting chief executive of Bus Éireann has raised the question of declaring the company insolvent as a real possibility. It is striking that there has been little public debate on this issue. Bus Éireann plays a major role in the life of this nation, including rural Ireland, the cities outside the capital and the school transport system. The closure of Bus Éireann would mean €59 million payroll taxes from its 2,600 workers being lost, as well as the expense of hundreds of millions of euro in redundancy and social welfare payments. Perhaps the Tánaiste can tell the House the exact amounts that would be involved.

On the "Six One" news programme yesterday, Ingrid Miley said Bus Éireann management had pulled the pin out of the grenade. It was an apt metaphor for what is a declaration of war on workers' wages as many workers will lose €4,000 or €5,000 in take-home pay under the plans. It is also a war on bus services. Dates have now been provided for the axing of some routes and the cutting back of others.

The stakes in this dispute are high, and include the protection of take-home pay, the future of Bus Éireann and the future of public transport in the State. It is in the interests of every public transport worker and everyone who cares about public transport that Bus Éireann workers defeat these cuts and that the Government is forced to properly fund public transport. A national public transport strike involving significant solidarity action from Iarnród Éireann and Dublin Bus workers could turn a long drawn-out battle with an uncertain outcome into a shorter and sharper clash which secures victory for the bus workers and forces the Government to invest in public transport. Such action now needs to be given very serious consideration.

Public transport in the State is significantly underfunded. The PSO subvention covers a mere 10% of total income, compared to more than 50% in other European states. If Bus Éireann was compensated in full for its free travel pass work it would receive an extra €17 million and the crisis would be averted. Instead, we have a do-nothing Government and a do-nothing Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport who refuses to intervene. The Minister, Deputy Shane Ross, acts as though he is on an episode of "Friends", the one where Ross folds his arms, tells us that it is a doddle and lets the national bus company go to the wall.

What will that cost? Can the Tánaiste give us a precise or an approximate figure? The figure could end up being the cost of the Government's desire to facilitate a low pay and privatisation agenda by doing nothing.

I reject the Deputy's characterisation of the kind of jobs we want to create and maintain in this country. I am of course aware of the letter issued by Bus Éireann management to staff which highlighted yet again the company's financial difficulties and indicated the measures it believed it must take to ensure the company's future. Trade unions are meeting today to consider their response. It is regrettable that last week's WRC discussions adjourned without agreement.

It is worth noting that since then the company and trade unions have highlighted that efficiency improvements are possible in terms of how the company organises itself. That is a significant signal which Members of the House should consider. People with real insight into how this company operates have acknowledged that there are improvements to be made in how it works. Last year, the taxpayer provided approximately €230 million to Bus Éireann across the PSO, free travel scheme and capital and school transport funding programmes.

Trade unions and management have publicly acknowledged that issues need to be dealt with within the company in terms of efficiency. They are exactly the type of issues that the Minister, Deputy Ross, has consistently identified when he has addressed this issue. They can only be resolved through realistic negotiations between the company and trade unions. I urge both sides to engage. Disputes are solved by parties sitting down, working through the issues and dealing with the reality of the situation.

It is not simply a question of taxpayer funding. We do not want taxpayers' money to be used in an inefficient manner. It has been acknowledged that there are very real issues within the company that need to be addressed, and they should be part of the discussion. It is regrettable that discussions in the WRC did not work out, but I have to agree with the Deputy that a strike is in nobody's interests, including the company, the employees or the travelling public, which will be completely discommoded if the strike proceeds.

Everyone wants to ensure that does not happen.

What is required is realistic negotiations that will lead to an agreement and deal with the problems the company is facing. Both sides have acknowledged that these are part and parcel of what needs to be addressed. We must restore the company to a sustainable future, which is what the Government wants to see and why we urge both sides to sit down, discuss the issues and come to a resolution of them.

The Tánaiste rejects my characterisation of a plan for a low pay agenda at a time when workers are facing cuts in take home pay of between €3,000 and €6,000 per annum. Her position is not credible. The Tánaiste referred to the PSO that is paid. The PSO is 20% down on what it was eight years ago. The Tánaiste's position is not credible. She spoke about ConnectIreland and IDA Ireland and the corporate welfare of €1,500 per job for employers. Here is a company with 2,500 jobs but the Government is not lifting a finger to save them despite the fact that if the company goes to the wall Revenue will be down €59 million in payroll taxes let alone redundancy and social welfare costs. The Tánaiste did not answer my question about the cost to the State. That the Minister and the Tánaiste have not answered it is very striking.

I wish to report to the House that the mood among bus workers, who are ready for strike action if the Government does not back down on this agenda, has very much hardened in the past 24 to 48 hours as has the mood among Dublin Bus workers and Iarnród Éireann workers, who are engaged in serious discussions about what support they might give in the event that solidarity is needed.

I hope the Deputy would, as I would, encourage people to get into negotiation mode because that is in the interest of the workers about whom he speaks.

Encourage the management too.

Let me repeat what the funding has been. Funding for PSO services, those socially necessary but often financially unviable services, has increased in the past two budgets. This year it increased by 11% and last year it increased by 13%

It is down 20% on eight years ago.

We all know what the country has been through and what decisions were necessary. As soon as the economy had recovered and we were in the position to invest again, this Government showed its goodwill to those services by investing. There was an 11% increase this year and a 13% increase last year and Bus Éireann received a 21% increase in PSO funding in 2016. I do not believe what the Deputy had to say on the Government's approach is correct. When the money has been available, we have shown our goodwill and invested further. I now encourage both sides to get around the table so that we do not face a strike next week.