Bad news for Kildare rail users as train strike due to go ahead tomorrow
Kildare's rail passengers are still facing the prospect of significant disruption tomorrow as talks aimed at averting the three-hour stoppage from 6am to 9am have so far failed to secure a breakthrough.
The talks adjourned at 3.15am but will resume at 11.30am in a last-ditch bid to resolve the row.
The Minister for Transport has said he is concerned that that we could be entering a period of ongoing industrial dispute and financial difficulty in Iarnród Éireann.
Minister Pascal Donohoe said he wants to recognise the efforts all sides involved in the rail dispute have put into attempting to reach a resolution.
However, he was concerned that if tomorrow's planned strike goes ahead it would trigger a period of uncertainty.
Iarnród Éireann management, SIPTU and the NBRU were locked in negotiations for over 13 hours on the key issue of productivity.
The company - which is losing €1m a month - is anxious to secure productivity savings, with much focus on more efficient rosters that would maximise the actual driving hours of drivers, and could reduce the number of drivers required.
However, the company insists that while the proceeds of any savings secured must be verifiable, they would be shared between drivers and the company.
Meanwhile, unions continue to insist their key issue of payment for past productivity is not being adequately addressed.
Sources claimed the process is being further delayed because company negotiators do not have a full negotiating mandate and keep having to refer back to people away from the talks.
One said it was a question of one step forward, four steps back.
Sources said it was a positive sign that the parties had agreed to attend further talks, but noted that with less than 24 hours to go to a nationwide rail shutdown, there is still no guarantee of the resolution needed by passengers seeking certainty about their rail service.
Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Iarnród Éireann spokesperson Barry Kenny said there is a route to a resolution and they have made some progress in talks.
However, Mr Kenny said there is still no guarantee that the strike will be called off.
He said that they would resume talks this morning in a positive frame of mind.
"We have made some progress but it has been slow and certainly we would, unfortunately, not be in a position to give any guarantee that it would be resolved.
"We do feel there is a route to a resolution that would meet the goal of ensuring there was benefit there that could be shared between the company and the drivers," he added.
Meanwhile, speaking on the same programme, NBRU spokesperson Dermot O'Leary said the people representing Iarnród Éireann do not have the autonomy to negotiate with the unions taking part in the talks, and it was very frustrating.
"We have a situation where the travelling public are going to be discommoded and it would appear to us that forces outside of the negotiating team are doing their damnedest, I suppose, to prevent a resolution to this dispute," said Mr O'Leary.
He appealed to the management to negotiate directly with the NBRU and SIPTU.