Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 June 2015
6. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the measures that are being taken to improve travel and transport facilities for persons with a disability; his assessment of the Government's commitments to the travel needs of persons with a disability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23242/15]
View answerThe Minister confirmed to me last October that despite commitments of 100% wheelchair accessibility for the Bus Éireann public service obligation, or PSO, coach fleet by 2015, the proportion will reach a mere 60% by the end of 2015 from a current level of 56%. At that rate of going, it will take up to ten years to meet the commitment.
Accessibility improvements to public transport services are being advanced in the context of Transport for All, which is my Department's sectoral plan pursuant to the Disability Act 2005. The plan promotes the principle of mainstreaming by requiring accessibility to be an integral element of public transport services and sets out a series of policy objectives and targets for all modes of public transport to make them more accessible to people with mobility, sensory and cognitive impairments. The plan was first published in 2006 and reviewed in 2008. The latest edition was published in 2013 following approval by both Houses of the Oireachtas. It provides a roadmap for further advances in public transport accessibility improvements and aims to build on the progress already achieved. As was the case with previous versions, the plan was prepared following an extensive consultation process with all stakeholders.
To date there has been a significant increase in the number of accessible vehicles together with improved access to much of the public transport infrastructure. Many targets have already been achieved and significant progress has been made towards the realisation of several others. For example, close to 60% of Irish Rail's stations have received significant accessibility upgrades while urban bus fleets in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Sligo are 100% wheelchair accessible. While 56% of Bus Éireann's coach fleet is wheelchair accessible, I recognise that an accessible service is only available on a limited number of routes. Work needs to be done and that work is ongoing. The targets in Transport Access for All are also reflected in the national disability strategy implementation plan which provides for a whole-of-Government approach to improving public service provision generally for people with disabilities. Both plans contain monitoring and evaluation mechanisms which involve groups representing people with disabilities.
Given that the plan was published in 2006, reviewed in 2008 and remains a plan, it is not acceptable that by the end of the 2015 deadline, less than 60% of the fleet will be accessible. I asked this question of the Minister having become aware that there is no daily bus service from Clonmel designed to accommodate wheelchair users. According to Bus Éireann's own information, its current selection of accessible coaches only have one wheelchair space per bus, which means it cannot be guaranteed that a space will be available. Surely, that is not meeting any obligation or plan. The Minister mentioned Dublin and Cork, but I am talking about the fleet in rural Ireland. Bus Éireann also requests that wheelchair users notify their local bus stations by telephone of an intention to travel 24 hours in advance. If that is not discrimination, I do not know what it is. The Minister can talk about all the equality legislation he wants, but that is blatant discrimination against disabled people and those who have to use wheelchairs. They have to telephone up 24 hours in advance and there will be only one seat available on the bus. It is a lottery system and that is not public transport.
It is public transport. It is transport on a public bus fleet being provided to try to meet the needs of residents. I want to see all forms of public transport being made available and being accessible to everybody in the country, but I note that €74 million has been spent since 2006 by this and previous Governments to make our public transport more accessible for everybody. If I look at what has happened in 2015, new lifts have been put in place in Connolly Station and wheelchair accessibility measures have been undertaken at a further five railway stations.
I am talking about Tipperary. Ireland does not end at the Naas Road.
I am answering the Deputy's question in regard to the overall fleet.
The Minister is not.
Many services from across the country go to Connolly Station as the Deputy well knows and if those measures were not in Connolly he would, understandably, criticise me. In 2015 alone, 40 additional wheelchair accessible bus stops were made available in 20 towns across the country.
There is no seat on the bus.
A grant of up to €10,000 per vehicle has been proposed and is available to make taxis and hackney vehicles more accessible.
It is not all about Dublin where the Minister's constituency is located. Money has been pumped into Dublin and the fleets in Dublin, Galway, Waterford and Sligo have been made 100% accessible. I am talking about Tipperary, which I represent in case the Minister does not know. This is a scenario that cannot be allowed. The Minister can talk about his new bus shelters, but when the bus comes one may not get a space on it. That is farcical as the Minister knows better than me. Wheelchair users in Tipperary have legitimate expectations around being able to access suitable public transport. Even those modest expectations are years away from being a reality, which is deeply frustrating to say the least. While his Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, may not tell him, the Minister has a responsibility to the disabled public of Tipperary as well as to Dublin, Connolly Station, the Luas and God knows what he will have underground. It is not all about Dublin. Ireland does not end at the M50 and it is time the Government realised that.
In his rush to make his point to me, the Deputy clearly did not listen to a single word I said.
I did in respect of Tipperary.
In my contribution, I made it very clear that measures have taken place in Dublin and also in Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Sligo.
I am talking about Tiobraid Árann.
I also made it very clear that we have put 40 schemes in place in 20 towns across the country.
I ask the Leas-Cheann Comhairle to ask the Minister to answer my question. I am talking about Tipperary but he is giving me a Bord Fáilte tour of the country.
The very reason these measures have been put in place is that I am fully aware of my national responsibility.
The Minister is aware but he is not living up to it.
That is why this and previous Governments have invested over €70 million to make public transport more accessible.
There is no room on the bus and there will be no room on the paper for the Minister.
We are doing this to put in place with the limited funding we have all the measures we can afford and that are available to us to make public transport as accessible as possible.
