Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Troy is very kind. Prior to this meeting, I had a meeting scheduled for 2.45 p.m. I thank the witnesses for attending and for their thorough and informative presentations. We have known a lot about this and we are battling with the Minister and the Department on it every week. The Irish Deaf Society has put froward a range of practical solutions; for example a button on a bus which people could press to find out what prices were and a live text system. Has the society met with the NTA or CIE on these and what responses were received?

The National Council for the Blind referred to staff hubs and the pilot system for DART services to bring notification periods down to four hours. While reducing the notice period from 24 hours to four hours is an improvement, it is still not satisfactory. Has the council made that abundantly clear? As the last speaker said, the Minister seems to think it is revolutionary. However, it is still not equality with everyone else. A taxi card system was referred to, which would be especially useful for people in rural areas. Is the council aware of the NTA's attitude or that of taxi drivers to such a scheme?

I note to Senator Dolan that we have spoken before. He referred to audio announcements on Bus Éireann which still have not come to fruition notwithstanding the passing of the 30 September date. Were there commitments from other transport services on the same audio announcements? He also mentioned the 48-hour notice period. I have dealt with 24-hour notice for buses in my constituency of Louth and east Meath. Not only is that restrictive, it is compounded by the problem that on many occasions people were left sitting at the side of the road when a bus pulled up which was not wheelchair accessible because, while there was a lift on the bus, the driver was not trained to operate it. That has been rectified to some degree locally but it is still not 100%. That is replicated across the State in every county and town. Senator Dolan said EU law prohibited the imposition of a fee for booking a seat by persons with travel passes for Irish Rail. Has he raised the matter with the company, the Minister or the NTA? We can also do it if that is necessary. If it has been raised, what was the response?

What are the top three proposals Inclusion Ireland has to combat poverty among persons with disabilities? Do they include the mobility allowance, motorised transport grant, an increase in Bus Éireann services or subsidised taxis? Inclusion Ireland said private bus companies can decide not to honour the free travel pass for users. How widespread an issue is that given that private bus operators also do not have the same obligation as public transport companies to meet the needs of wheelchair users despite the fact that they have been awarded public contracts? I am sure other speakers will have plenty of other questions but I apologise for having to leave now. I will check the responses from the witnesses on the transcripts later.