The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, met the board of CIE yesterday, as part of a series of meetings planned with semi-state companies. It is understood the dispute at Bus Eireann was among the items discussed.

Ms O'Rourke will report on the dispute to the Cabinet on Monday. She intervened last Monday evening, after talks between management and unions broke down at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).

The talks had ended when the unions rejected a management offer to defer the introduction of minibus services in provincial centres until August 12th. It is understood that the Minister has met all sides.

Just how the dispute will be resolved is unclear, but elements of it are expected to be referred back to the LRC. Management at CIE is said to be extremely angry at the Minister's intervention and believes "the ball is in Ms

O'Rourke's court now".

Minibuses travel more frequently and are cheaper to run than standard double decker buses.

The number of people using public transport is said to have risen by 40 per cent since they were introduced.

The company wants to introduce 25 minibuses in Cork, Galway and Limerick.

Another contentious issue is boarding. This is where a bus which a driver brings to Dublin, from say Galway, cannot be used while in Dublin. Instead a different bus and driver must be used.

Sources have said that if this was changed it would result in the need for 20

fewer buses on the routes and bring significant cost savings.