Ms Sarah Lennon:

On behalf of Inclusion Ireland, I thank the committee for the invitation to address it.

Inclusion Ireland is a national, rights-based advocacy organisation working to promote the rights of people with intellectual disabilities.

Ireland signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007 but has not yet ratified it. The convention requires the State will ensure persons with disabilities can access, on an equal basis with others, transportation. Inclusion Ireland endorses the National Platform of Self-Advocates, one of the few disabled persons’ organisations. It conducted research and produced a report, Our Lived Experiences of Housing and Transport. It showed when public transport links were good, participants felt happy because it supported them in accessing education, training, work, social and community supports and networks. However, when public transport did not work well, as can be the experience of many people with disabilities living rurally, connection to opportunities to work, to attend further education and to take part in the community are denied or restricted. Disabled people living in private households were far less likely to own a car in April 2011. People with an intellectual disability do not drive and are dependent on people who do drive or public transport.

These issues are well known and there have been commitments. The programme for Government stated it will examine transport service provision for young persons with disabilities to ensure the service is fit for purpose and consistent with their needs. The recently published national disability inclusion strategy also committed to improving the accessibility. Crucially, the strategy commits to the maintenance of accessibility features. From our advocacy work, accessibility features cannot be relied upon. Lifts in particular can be poorly maintained, leaving it in the lap of the gods as to whether they will be even available. There is evidence that these commitments are not being realised and that for many disabled people, transport continues to be an ongoing barrier to community inclusion.

Inclusion Ireland is aware of poorly accessible information, individuals experiencing less favourable treatment because they are using a free travel pass, late changes to bus timetables or routes which presents a challenge to people with intellectual disabilities or autism, lack of staff or support at train stations meaning difficulty travelling or accessing tickets, inaccurate display or audio systems meaning people travelled beyond their destination. This affects not only people with disabilities but other commuters and tourists.

During recent Inclusion Ireland consultations on public transport, we received feedback that public transport was essential for community living, as well as good mental health and social interaction. Respondents spoke about it being wearying and time-consuming to arrange access. Transport is by no means equal. One participant said carrying disabled people out of their wheelchairs onto Bus Éireann buses is obscene and dangerous in the 21st century.

One person who participated said that carrying disabled people from their wheelchairs onto Bus Éireann buses is obscene and dangerous in the 21st century. Other feedback was that people would like timetables and transport information to be accessible and easy to read throughout the network, with a consistent approach, a consistent template and consistent font used for all accessible information in the network.

As I mentioned, one of the biggest accessibility features is simply maintenance, or standing still in some cases, whereby lifts and so forth are maintained. Senator Dolan mentioned this at the outset but we would encourage the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to give more regard to its public sector duty. In the Department's most recent strategy statement there was a reference to addressing the commitments by performing an initial assessment of the duty. We are keen to know how that initial assessment is going or if it has begun. If it has not, we strongly encourage the Department to consult with experts through lived experience in preparing that assessment and in developing the statement to ensure that the real life experiences about which the committee members have heard today and which exist outside this room permeate any assessment or plan. That would include passengers with disabilities who are dependent on the public transport system for community inclusion.