Sir, - Your Editorials on the bus dispute has (March 29th and 30th) were even-handed and fair. You correctly acknowledge that bus drivers are paid a pathetically low basic wage for enduring the stresses and hazards of a very demanding occupation. You also correctly accuse successive governments of under-funding CIE. Herein lies the crux of the dispute.
Unless we can rid ourselves of the neo-Thatcherite contention that money invested in public transport is a drain on the Exchequer, we are doomed to continual industrial unrest. If we pride ourselves on the success of our mixed economy, we should have no hesitation in investing in public transport, just as we do in hospitals, schools, prisons, gardai.
And let us not have banner headlines at the end of the financial year shouting: "CIE lost £X million." Money invested in providing public transport is never lost. It is the price we pay for a caring society. Mrs O'Rourke, please note. - Yours, etc.,
Martin Madden, Tonlegee Road, Coolock, Dublin 5.