Renewed calls have been made for the urgent deregulation of the transport sector after another day of disruption to bus and rail commuters. Mr Pat Delaney, director of the Small Firms Association, said "a competitive market would negate disputes of this nature because their impact would be negligible".
He said yesterday's secondary picketing of bus depots had caused severe disruption to businesses in the capital.
"These delays will result in millions of pounds of lost business, lost production and misery for workers trying to get to and from work."
Mr Delaney accused ILDA of "holding a gun to the head of the general public" and said the rail dispute had "no political support, no legal basis and public opinion is waged against it".
Labour TD Ms Breeda Moynihan-Cronin said the dispute was hurting not only industry but people who needed to travel by rail to receive treatment for diseases such as cancer. Such people were finding it very difficult to keep appointments because of the infrequent services, she said.
"There is now a real onus on the members of the breakaway ILDA to consider the options currently before them.
"It is clear at this stage that their actions are not producing any results other than to create industrial losses and personal hardships for those affected."
She added the loss of a full train service in south Kerry was impacting badly on the tourist trade. "Those dealing in catering, accommodation, group tours and other tourism related businesses are unable to reach their full potential this summer, thereby putting both their businesses and the livelihoods of their staff at risk."
Fine Gael's spokeswoman on transport, Ms Olivia Mitchell, urged the Congress of Trade Unions to become actively involved in the dispute before all drivers were drawn into a "downward spiral of transport chaos.
"This strike is about a perceived failure by the existing union structures to represent the interests of a significant group of train drivers and as such the first step to resolving this dispute must come from within the union movement itself.
"Congress has a responsibility not only to CIE workers, but to all their union colleagues in other sectors throughout the country whose jobs and livelihoods are jeopardised by this dispute," she said.
Socialist Party TD Mr Joe Higgins called for a form of independent mediation which "would allow all the issues to be debated, with ILDA being heard along with the other unions".