Train services for 100,000 bank holiday travellers face disruption because of a threatened strike by level-crossing keepers. The keepers are threatening to suspend operations from midnight on Thursday until midnight on Friday.
Iarnrod Eireann's human resources manager, Mr John Keenan, has invited SIPTU to talks tomorrow to try and resolve the dispute. He said he accepted that rates for crossing keepers were low, and he was offering to raise them by between £35 and £40 a week.
If the action goes ahead it will affect services on the busiest Friday of the year, he added.
However, he said the company was looking at contingency plans to ensure services were not affected on the Dublin-Cork, Dublin-Athlone and Dublin-Kildare services. The dispute does not pose a threat to the Dublin-Belfast or DART services.
According to Mr Keenan the latest offer will increase pay for resident level-crossing keepers to £192.32 a week. It is currently £169.87.
For non-resident keepers the wages will increase from £201.73 to £211.73, plus £6 a week for those required to work more than 10 hours. At present keepers have to work more than 12 hours to earn an attendance bonus of 33p.
A SIPTU branch secretary, Mr Tony Tobin, said later that "a £35 increase on almost nothing does not amount to a great deal". He said some crossing-keepers worked 18 hours a day. They earned as little as £1.50 an hour.
He said housing provided for resident keepers was often in an appalling condition and containers used by non-resident keepers were in even worse condition.
The company had promised to ensure regular rest days for keepers last March, but had still failed to do so, Mr Tobin added.