Ms Sarah Lennon:

I refer to the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. The problem concerns private property rights and whether we can interfere with the rights of private property owners in order to reasonably accommodate disabled citizens. We are not setting separate standards for employment because of a European directive. We have been compelled to have one standard for employment. Until we are compelled to have one standard for services, we intend to continue with two tiers. As such, our public services will be of a higher standard than private services. If the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the National Transport Authority, NTA, are compelled by their public sector duty to have equality and human rights approaches in place, they should not grant tenders to private companies unless they reach the higher standard.

Unstaffed stations are a significant barrier to people with intellectual disabilities travelling independently. Travelling independently is a massive issue for people with intellectual disabilities in terms of their dignity and inclusion in their community. Often, in our rush towards technological solutions, we simply forget what human support is required for people. I am not just talking about public safety, or protection from anti-social behaviour. We can train people to use ticket machines, but we cannot necessarily train them in what to do if the ticket machines are not working. Having humans available to provide support is very important for people, particularly those with an intellectual disability or autism. As I mentioned earlier, this may also be important to people who are tourists in this country.