Vol. 460 No. 7
43 Kathleen Lynch asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the proportion of Bus Éireann vehicles, Iarnród Éireann rail vehicles and Dublin Bus vehicles which are currently accessible to wheelchair users; the recommendations, if any, that have been made by the Inter-Departmental Transport Accessibility Committee with regard to further improving the accessibility of the fleets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2013/96]
The most substantial degree of progress towards making public transport fleets more accessible to wheelchair users has been achieved by Iarnród Éireann. All push-pull trains on outer suburban services are accessible and have a dedicated wheelchair area. All Dart units offer full wheelchair access and this is also the case with all of the new Arrow railcars, which also have accessible toilets. Approximately 70 per cent of Intercity trains are wheelchair accessible with dedicated spaces for disabled customers in the dining cars. The remaining 30 per cent are basically accessible and spaces can be made available for wheelchair users by arrangement. Looking to the future, all of the new trains for the Dublin/Belfast service will have dedicated spaces for wheelchair users and on-board accessible toilets. Furthermore, it is now company policy that all new carriages should be accessible to the mobility impaired and that in addition, all new Intercity trains should have wheelchair accessible toilets. The new Light Rapid Transit vehicles for Dublin will also be directly accessible to wheelchair users.
Catering for the requirements of wheelchair users poses major technical, operational and financial challenges for road passenger operators. The latest generation of buses in use by both Bus Eireann and Bus Átha Cliath incorporate an improved level of accessibility including, in the case of new vehicles on urban services, features recommended by the UK-based Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee. However, neither company uses any vehicles which are fully accessible to wheelchair-bound customers for the provision of services for the general public. This is primarily because of the difficulty of acquiring technically proven, affordable and cost-effective accessible vehicles in current market conditions.
