Bus Éireann clarification
After accusations that he had refused to bring the Minister in, the Leader clarified that he would be happy for the Minister to return and that he only meant the Minister would engage once the dispute was resolved. The row continued over his exact words until he restated his position.
That is absolutely unbelievable.
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Sorry, a Chathaoirligh. It is unbelievable.
The Leader is telling the House that he will not bring in the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport until this strike is resolved.
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He did. That is exactly what the Leader said.
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That is exactly what the Leader said. When that is resolved, he would bring in the Minister.
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That is unbelievable. What is the Leader waiting for?
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Is the Leader waiting for a Dublin Bus strike or an Irish Rail strike? Is he waiting for a school bus strike?
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Allow the Leader to respond. If there are issues to be clarified, it can be done tomorrow morning on the Order of Business.
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I will clarify what I said for the benefit of Senator Ó Ríordáin.
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It would be privatised if it was not for Deputy Kelly.
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The Senator is not on the stage on the Gaiety now. Let me respond.
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I am responding to what the Leader actually said.
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Would the Leader like me to ask if the record could be read back?
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Let me clarify it for Senator Ó Ríordáin again. What I said was that once the matter was resolved, I would assume that the Minister, Deputy Ross, would engage with Bus Éireann and the workers to have viable public transport. To give a definitive answer, the Minister has been here twice in the past couple of weeks and I would be happy to have him come in again. I have no problem with that. I just wish to clarify that point.