Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This is another significant step towards improving public transport provision for people with disabilities. Transport Access for All, the Department's sectoral plan under the Disability Act 2005, is the outcome of an extensive review process in which people with disabilities played a key role. The 2012 edition of the plan which provides a roadmap for further advancement in public transport accessibility improvements has been largely shaped by the outcome of such a process. However, advice received by the Department of Justice and Equality from the Office of the Attorney General indicates that, in compliance with section 31(6) of the Disability Act 2005, the 2012 edition of the Department's sectoral plan cannot take effect until a resolution on the plan has been passed by each House of the Oireachtas. Today's discussion, the first of its kind, has been arranged for this reason.

While the plan is a positive step, it is, by no means, a panacea for all of our public transport accessibility issues. However, it represents an honest view of what is achievable. Circumstances being different, we would have liked to achieve much more. In recent years the number of accessible vehicles has increased significantly and access to much of the public transport infrastructure has improved. For instance, the Dublin Bus fleet now comprises exclusively low floor, wheelchair accessible buses and a programme of bus stop upgrades is proceeding. Bus Éireann has met its objectives of having the Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford fleets entirely composed of low floor, wheelchair accessible buses.

On the issue of new or upgraded wheelchair accessible stops outside the greater Dublin area, the National Transport Authority is now managing this programme and provides funding directly to individual local authorities as resources allow on a case by case scenario. While the existing Luas service is already accessible, developments in technology and best international practice are being monitored with a view to enhancing the system. For example, the installation in 2011 of T-coil induction loops on all 64 trams which enhanced access for hearing impaired passengers was possibly a first in the world and the list goes on.

Changes have occurred in the way transport services are delivered, as well as in the research and consultation necessary to provide the groundwork for further accessibility measures to be planned and progressed in the coming years. Many targets have been achieved and significant progress has made towards the realisation of several others. Notwithstanding this success, much remains to be done and work in this regard is ongoing, allowing for the significant economic challenges facing us.

It is recognised worldwide that the provision of accessible, affordable and acceptable transport can make a significant difference to quality of life. People can feel cut off from wider community life and experience serious difficulty in accessing basic services where access to transport is lacking. This is particularly true in the case of older people and people with disabilities, although it also applies to many others. One of the core principles of the sectoral plan is that through accessibility improvements to the public transport system for people with disabilities, access will be improved for everyone. Inclusion, opportunity and participation in social, economic and cultural life should be available to everyone. Design and planning for services and infrastructure should take this requirement into account from the beginning. Social inclusion must never be viewed as an add-on to what we do but an integral component of our work.

The plan was prepared following an extensive consultation process that included many meetings and discussions with transport providers, a wide range of groups in the disability sector and the public transport accessibility committee, PTAC. The latter is the principal consultative forum on public transport accessibility in Ireland and it comprises representatives of older people, the main disability organisations, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, public and private transport operators, the National Disability Authority, the National Transport Authority, the Dublin Airport Authority, the Maritime Safety Directorate and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

Approval and implementation of this plan will help to further address the public transport concerns of people with disabilities. In addition, Transport Access for All will feed into the forthcoming national disability strategy implementation plan which is being developed under the auspices of my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. I understand the Minister of State's plan will provide for greater inter-linkages across Government Departments and their agencies. I welcome this development. The implementation plan will address the full needs of those Departments and allow for a whole-of-Government approach to be taken in respect of improving public service provision generally for people with disabilities.

The approval of Deputies and Senators for the 2012 edition of Transport Access for All is a key step in the process. I fully support the plan, on which a great deal of work has been done. In such circumstances, I ask members to endorse the plan because it will make a real difference going forward.