Ms Anne Graham:

All the regional city services are fully wheelchair accessible. We have been examining the wheelchair accessibility of the single decker coach. At the moment the new vehicles purchased by Bus Éireann have a wheelchair lift and there is a 24 hour booking period required because seats have to be removed from the vehicle to enable activation of the wheelchair lift. We have been trying to assess whether there is an alternative to that vehicle. We are not convinced that it is the best provision of service for those who use wheelchairs. We are assessing what vehicles are available on the market. If we are in a position to provide that fleet on the contracted services, we will consider whether we would make the provision of that type of vehicle a condition for licensed services too.