RENUA Ireland has sharply criticized the inability of Minister Shane Ross to keep order in his Transport portfolio.
As the first of a number of one-day Irish Rail stoppages get underway, the party noted:
‘‘A Transport Minister can be unfortunate in having one strike. When you have three, generally you are the problem.
“The ongoing disruption in Ireland’s transport infrastructure is the consequence of a lack of vision and leadership by Minister Ross.
“The consequence of this latest strike is ever greater hardship for those who get up early to go to work.
“However, it is difficult to believe that his Transport Minister knows they even exist.
“If they are a stranger to him; increasingly it is clear that Mr Ross’s Department and it’s goings on are a mystery to him.
“When it comes to today’s strike RENUA Ireland is particularly concerned by the absence of a stakeholder forum which would include all transport companies which was promised after the Bus Eireann strike.
“This appears to have swiftly evolved into another broken promise. It is another example of how the Minister is invisible both in times of strife and their aftermath.
“Irish Rail is a company facing into an uncertain future which needs leadership from the top.
“It is time the Minister woke up, left the Department of Justice, entered the doors of his own Department and provided this leadership. Instead, in a time of growing crisis for a part of our transport infrastructure which is so vital for the connectivity of rural Ireland, the doors of the Department are shut.
“Dialogue and leadership from the Minister, not the politics of laissez-faire laissez-passer, is required to resolve the problems besetting a company with an uncertain future.
“It would be a good idea if the Minister started this process today.”
SEE ALSO – New committee formed in the latest stage of the battle to save Portlaoise Hospital
