Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Barry for his presentation. Last night I raised with the Minister the issue that there are almost 93,000 households in rural Ireland that do not have access to rail, bus, hackney or taxi. That is a hell of a lot of people who face near isolation. What are Mr. Barry's plans to address that?

I also wanted to ask what percentage of the current bus fleet of coaches, in particular, the Bus Éireann fleet, has disability access, whether it be lifts, ramps, etc. I attended a disability rights forum last weekend in Drogheda where it was highlighted that coaches do not have to be wheelchair accessible or do not have to comply with the regulation. If that is the case, why is it still so?

Another issue raised was that the disability access standards on the Enterprise trains are far more up to scratch.

There seems to be a lot more thought put into turning room and the layout, in that when a person in a wheelchair boards the train it is easier for them to manoeuvre and position themselves, in comparison with Iarnród Éireann trains. Has the National Transport Authority examined the Enterprise trains and how they model their disability access? This comes from users and their experiences. Has the NTA done this comparison and if not, why has it not done so and will it happen? I am sure Mr. Barry realises there are problems in this regard.

I also want to ask Mr. Barry about the plans for the further privatisation of bus and rail services. I am sure he will say it is not privatisation and that it is outsourcing. There is not a whole lot of difference between the two. What are the plans, outside of the 10% of bus routes? There is also a lot of disquiet around the Go-Ahead contracts and the fact that given it is using taxpayers money, the public and public representatives cannot have access to the contract. There is concern around decisions for awarding the contract. According to reports, the Bus Éireann tender came in cheaper than the Go-Ahead bid. I believe there are also various reports regarding the Go-Ahead delivery of services. These are conflicting reports but from what we hear they are not all 100%. When will we get sight of the reasons, the costs of awarding the contract to Go-Ahead and why the decision was made to award the contract to Go-Ahead as opposed to our national fleet in Bus Éireann?