Varadkar withholds €36m promised to CIE "in good conscience"

Infini

http://www.newstalk.ie/2012/news/e36-million-subsidy-for-cie-to-be-withheld/

Hmmm I wonder they go giving 36mil to keep services goin then turn around and leo says theyre not giving it now? Wonder how much of a mess this is gonna make

foggy_lad

Infini2 wrote: »

http://www.newstalk.ie/2012/news/e36-million-subsidy-for-cie-to-be-withheld/

Hmmm I wonder they go giving 36mil to keep services goin then turn around and leo says theyre not giving it now? Wonder how much of a mess this is gonna make

Cant really blame anyone for looking for a bit of Value for Money Especially where the money is 36million of our euros. I also thought it had been arrnged some months ago but had not been withdrawn by CIE who it seems were not in as much need as they stated?

Were they looking for a bit extra that they could use around the Christmas for bonuses?


http://www.newstalk.ie/2012/news/e36-million-subsidy-for-cie-to-be-withheld/

Leo Varadkar says the money is available to Irish Rail and Dublin Bus but only if the company finds new forms of credit and secures agreement from unions on reforms.

irishgeo

about time. Hold the money until they make some reforms.

Its one of the most inefficient public companies in Ireland.

Well done Leo.

Judgement Day

Add that to the Directors of CIE refusing to sign-off on the company's accounts and meltdown can't be far off, but no doubt the dinosaur will live on. :rolleyes:

road_high

Well done Leo. Absolutely right. Just throwing good money after bad otherwise.
CIE is supposed to be a transport company. Not a public works scheme for trade unionists.

dowlingm

Was there a note from the Commission saying "exactly how is this not State Aid lads?"

road_high

dowlingm wrote: »

Was there a note from the Commission saying "exactly how is this not State Aid lads?"

I'd say public tansport has some exemption to those competion rules. Subvented in most/all other EU states as well to a greater or lessor extent. Just not as badly run as CIE is.

Sponge Bob

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/varadkar-i-cannot-in-good-conscience-give-36m-subsidy-to-cie-570157.html

Minister Varadkar said that the money is available to Irish Rail and Dublin Bus, but only if agreement is secured from unions on reforms.

Minister Varadkar said that he cannot "in good conscience" continue to pay taxpayers money to Irish Rail and Dublin Bus every year without these reforms.

He said that CIE and the bus unions in particular have to come to the table and there has been little progress so far.

irishgeo

matt cooper book has some interesting facts on the "carry on" going on inside CIE.

starviewadams

Increase fares on a declining service,great strategy.

Zhane

Right on.

Mycroft H

About time. It's a public transport company, not a job for the union boys.

Hilly Bill

He has some neck going on about reforms and taxpayers money when none of the expenses the TD's get have not been touched.

n97 mini

In fairness he's the Minister for Transport, not the Minister for Government Reform. Maybe when he's Taoiseach or President he'll reform TDs' pay and perks.

Hilly Bill

I doubt very much that he would.

dowlingm

mfitzy wrote: »

I'd say public tansport has some exemption to those competion rules.

Not when public transport is being run in competition between modes, it doesn't.

Sligo Quay

irishgeo wrote: »

matt cooper book has some interesting facts on the "carry on" going on inside CIE.

I don't work in CIE, I work in shipping, so thats out of the way.
Matt Cooper can have all the facts he likes, the public have interesting facts on the ''carry on'' on whats going on inside Dáil Eireann. So Leo won't pay CIE. Bravo! well working people will never take Leo or any other politican serious when the gravy train just keep rolling inside Dail Eireann, Leo can huff and puff but won't bring his own house down, as long as the scandalous set of allowances and expenses that where put in place by Charlie Mc Creevy away back in 2001, the likes of Healy Rea traveling up and down on his free pass and claiming expenses, or independent TDs claiming 41,000euro a year tax free, honest working people will never take Leo or his colleagues serious as long as their greedy snouts stay firmly in the trough and the gravy train keeps rolling down the tracks, until it hits the buffers, Leo can huff and puff but still won't derail the gravy train inside Dail Eireann.

delad

irishgeo wrote: »

matt cooper book has some interesting facts on the "carry on" going on inside CIE.

would you mind sharing with us some of those interesting facts?

Cookie_Monster

Hilly Bill wrote: »

He has some neck going on about reforms and taxpayers money when none of the expenses the TD's get have not been touched.

true but it's not a valid reason to pay it anyway. The line has to be drawn somewhere and a start made. If this is it then great. Next is telling the HSE that they can't just keep disregarding theirs budgets totally and utterly and we might be getting somewhere.

Heisenberg1

foggy_lad wrote: »

Cant really blame anyone for looking for a bit of Value for Money Especially where the money is 36million of our euros. I also thought it had been arrnged some months ago but had not been withdrawn by CIE who it seems were not in as much need as they stated?

Were they looking for a bit extra that they could use around the Christmas for bonuses?


http://www.newstalk.ie/2012/news/e36-million-subsidy-for-cie-to-be-withheld/

Value for money It's a pity the fools in goverment did'nt take this stance when the french and german banks came looking for there money.

Sligo Quay

It really is one of my pet hates, politicans taking the high moral ground while their own nests are well feathered, Leo really must take the voters as suckers.
Doesn't start and end with Leo, we have a totally crazy situation where a mad wild crazy ''socialist'' TD girl from North County Dublin gets into bed with a tax cheat politican wearing a pink shirt from Wexford, then these people pretend they are on the side of the people, you just couldnd write the script for that, Im getting my coat, going for a pint.

irishgeo

delad wrote: »

would you mind sharing with us some of those interesting facts?

ill have to dig them up.

schemingbohemia

Any chance of commenting on what was said rather than more "Journal" type comments about the gravy train and the banks?

mickydoomsux

foggy_lad wrote: »

Were they looking for a bit extra that they could use around the Christmas for bonuses?

There's no such thing as Christmas bonuses in the company.

Foggy Lad making things up again as per usual.

Infini

Funny thing I see with this is that they give 36 mil then leo turns around and says hes holding it. From what I hear Dublin Bus is in big trouble because they took on too many drivers in previous years and now they got too many that they cant get rid off. Also wondering how this will affect IR because they were lookin for the extra money to keep train services running and if leos messing around now will IR start pulling off peak train services that they cant afford to keep running.

bobby23

Dublin Bus are not over staffed, they are at least 85 drivers short.

Fact is loads of routes are not making money, only carry 3-10 people a trip after 8 o'clock.

A epidemic of free travel pass use has broken out the last year, some times 75%+ of passengers on a trip have them. I KID YOU NOT!!!
It seems everyone has a pass, or at least a fake one.

markpb

bobby23 wrote: »

Fact is loads of routes are not making money, only carry 3-10 people a trip after 8 o'clock.

I wonder (genuinely) why both Luas lines are relatively busy off-peak while Dublin Bus struggles to find any passengers. DBs last buses at night are like ghost buses but both Luas lines are busy, not only at 11:30 when DB have gone home but right through to 12:30.

noodler

Some of the comments are funny.

They are akin to "well, we bailed out the banks"...."high TD pay/pensions" etc

so why shouldn't we keep funding a terribly inefficient system?

Victor

foggy_lad wrote: »

Were they looking for a bit extra that they could use around the Christmas for bonuses?

Can we lay off the flippancy?

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delad

markpb wrote: »

I wonder (genuinely) why both Luas lines are relatively busy off-peak while Dublin Bus struggles to find any passengers. DBs last buses at night are like ghost buses but both Luas lines are busy, not only at 11:30 when DB have gone home but right through to 12:30.

thats because its free to use the luas, anyone can hop on and hop off, so until turnstiles are installed at luas stops then the problem of skangers using it for free will continue

markpb

delad wrote: »

thats because its free to use the luas, anyone can hop on and hop off, so until turnstiles are installed at luas stops then the problem of skangers using it for free will continue

Late night trains always have a heavy security and ticket checking presence and I've never seem any problems or people being thrown off.

delad

markpb wrote: »

Late night trains always have a heavy security and ticket checking presence and I've never seem any problems or people being thrown off.

trains or trams? trains have turnstiles which keep out the scum.

markpb

delad wrote: »

trains or trams?

Trams.

delad

markpb wrote: »

Trams.

which line are you on?

Judgement Day

delad wrote: »

trains or trams? trains have turnstiles which keep out the scum.

Yeah right. :rolleyes:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=76706133

delad

Judgement Day wrote: »

Yeah right. :rolleyes:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=76706133

that was just one incident, i've rarely seen knackers/junkies on the train

Jamie2k9

have turnstiles which keep out the scum.

They are great once the gate next to them isn't open.....

In regard to security and ticket inspectors on the Luas at night, I have used it a lot over the last few weeks (Red Line) and have had my ticket checked most nights. Must also say I felt safe on it to, the first time in a while. Does anyone else think the anti social behavior has calmed down a little?

Also whats the story with gardi going around with ticket checkers at times>

Stheno

Having read this thread if they got rid of the likes of Bobby they wouldn't need the 30 odd million

Dublin Bus driver advocating fare evasion, not giving a **** as he still gets "payed the same" not counting fares, not giving refund receipts etc

Cookie_Monster

Stheno wrote: »

Having read this thread if they got rid of the likes of Bobby they wouldn't need the 30 odd million

Dublin Bus driver advocating fare evasion, not giving a **** as he still gets "payed the same" not counting fares, not giving refund receipts etc

broken record much?
give it a rest will ya, he's being honest at what he does, there's no need to drag it all over the forum.

Sponge Bob

This €36m is needed to pay for agreed voluntary redundancies and early retirements don't forget

juan.kerr

Knowing these 'companies' it is probably cheaper overall to let them retire at normal retirement age.

Sponge Bob

Not quite the point, if they are there next year

a) they will cost a lot more than intended
b) Varadkar still needs to up the 2013 subvention by much of the same €36m to pay for the delayed ( and agreed) redundancies.