Bus Éireann ‘warns of €4m loss last year and again this year’

The Labour Court has recommended a combined pay increase of 6.75pc over a two-year period to the end of December next year, along with a pay voucher of €500, for Bus Éireann’s 3,200 workers.

The pay row came before the Labour Court after the 3,200 workers represented by the NBRU, Siptu, Unite, TSSA and Connect rejected pay proposals put forward by the Workplace Relations Commission by 64pc to 36pc.

Today's news in 90 Seconds - Monday June 23

The unions said the 3pc pay increase on offer for each year of the pay proposal was not sufficient or adequate to meet their aspirations. They were looking for a straight pay increase comparable with other CIÉ companies and one that would provide pay parity with Dublin Bus.

The unions valued pay parity as requiring an increase of 12.7pc.

In response, Bus Éireann said the current pay proposal represented the very limit of what could be offered in a pay proposal and was reasonable, if not significant, in the context of what was affordable to the company.

Bus Éireann told the Labour Court that it believes it was a very reasonable offer in terms of the current marketplace.

The company set out the cumulative cost of the proposal that was balloted on “and stressed that it had made a loss of €4.2m in 2024 and was projecting similar losses for 2025”.

Bus Éireann also submitted that the proposal included other improvements to terms and conditions that were valued at 1pc of pay per year, with some groups benefiting from other changes, and stated that the percentage increases should not be looked at in isolation.

In its recommendation, Louise O’Reilly, the deputy chairwoman at the Labour Court, said the pay increase was made up of a 3.5pc and a €500 voucher effective from January 1 this year.

Additionally, a further pay increase of 3.25pc would be effective from January 1, 2026, and the €500 voucher would be payable to those employed on January 1, 2025, and remaining in employment at the date of acceptance of recommendation.

Ms O’Reilly said the pay deal would expire on December 31, 2026, and the parties agreed to engage no later than four months before the expiry of this deal to secure a successor.