At last, somebody has intervened to address the intractable rail dispute. The initiative by the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court, using little known powers to act in the public interest, provide the first constructive steps on any side in the eight weeks of the dispute.

Their proposal to examine all aspects of the problems and report back within three months on the basis that everyone return to work now is welcome, but the dispute already raises several issues.

First is the transparent inability of management and unions and CIE to respect their protected status as a monopoly provider of public transport. Even as the unrecognised Irish Locomotive Drivers' Association (ILDA) considers its response to the offer, other workers in CIE plan strike action. The only answer is competition and the sooner the better.

Second, there is the unwillingness of companies to take advantage of legislation on secondary picketing. There is always a wariness in disputes of upping the ante, but there is absolutely no point in having laws protecting enterprises and their customers not in dispute from being affected by them, unless there is any chance of them being used. Finally, one has to wonder about the wisdom of ILDA's 130 odd members voting for action to secure recognition with no plan B in place if their first tactic failed. Maybe it's time to return to the fold.

Dominic Coyle can be contacted at dcoyle@irish-times.ie