Transport Minister Shane Ross has said that the Dublin Bus dispute will not be resolved by him.

His comments come as the company writes to staff saying the strikes are having a catastrophic effect on its finances and undermining efforts to get over the financial crisis.

Minister Ross has again insisted he does not have a chequebook to resolve the dispute.

“I’m not going to be riding in on a white horse in shining armour and have a chequebook and say that’s going to solve the problem,” he said.

“That would be exactly the wrong thing to do.

“This dispute, as everybody knows, will be resolved, but it’s not going to be resolved if I participate in it, in a way which would make things far worse.”