Thanks D.Obs for the Constitutional Clarification,although I`m unsure whether it makes me feel any better.

The present shaky nervousness in the political sphere is not a promising sign as without doubt the Horsetrading is already in train (!!)

For quite some time now I have been peddling the line that we have a current and ongoing EMERGENCY situation in Public Transport.
That situation merits the suspension of whatever time-honoured arrangements are in place and their replacement with something that actually addresses the on the ground issues.

One of the downsides of our Political Patronage system is athat Candidates such as GNR refers to will issue all manner of stuff to make it appear they themselves actually have a controlling input when the reality is otherwise.

Whilst Dublin Bus do have staff recruitment and training issues,these are nowhere near enough to keep those vehicles idle.
The issues are the same for the privates,as recruitment of staff remains a great problem.
Any entrant to the job HAS to accept the requirement to work when EVERYBODY else is OFF,and thats not an easy or popular option.

Currently there is a mountain of unattended Paperwork awaiting the Depts attention and some of it mundane in the extreme.
This idea that the CIE group is simply experiencing the pay back for the 1940`s and 50`s is so bizzarre as to be believable.
What has to be remembered is that back then CIE WAS the State so no commercial needs were ever part of their brief.

One thing IS certain and that is Progress is painfully slow and for all the wrong reasons.
It should not be the Dept of Transport`s brief to worry about Commercial operations per se.
They should restrict their input to ensuring the availibility and quality of the service to the maximum of current resources full stop.
PS GNR...Do you have the current membership list of the Council of State ?

PPS...What price Michael Lowry as Min for Transport again.....??