A plan to secure agreement on the future of public transport by tomorrow was abandoned yesterday after just three hours of talks at the Labour Relations Commission.
Discussions involving CIÉ unions and the Department of Transport were adjourned by the chairman, Mr Kevin Foley of the LRC, and will reconvene at an unspecified date. It is understood there is now no chance of a deal being concluded until after the Cabinet reshuffle at the end of this month.
It had been intended that the two sides would engage in intensive negotiations over three days, with a view to finalising a deal by tomorrow.
Unions have been in dispute for the past 22 months with the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, over his plans to break up CIÉ and increase competition in bus markets. In particular, his initial plan to have 25 per cent of the Dublin bus market placed under the control of private operators by the beginning of this year was bitterly opposed.
Unions believed the move would lead to large-scale job losses in Dublin Bus and a worsening of pay and conditions in the industry.
In July, Mr Foley told the parties he believed the basis existed for a compromise that would meet the needs of both sides. When the parties met yesterday, however, talks were quickly adjourned to allow the Department more time to work on technical aspects of its proposals.
This work will continue in the coming weeks but several sources conceded that a deal would not be done until it became clear whether Mr Brennan would be replaced.
