Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the point that was made about universal accessibility, which is definitely the way to go. I am concerned about the suggestion that there should be buy-in by various Departments. I wish to make the point that they should automatically do so.

I want to refer to wheelchair accessible taxis. I received a reply from the National Transport Authority in the past few weeks. I accept that there is a grant scheme. The grant and the changes made in 2014 have been helpful. The number of such taxis per head of population varies very significantly. For example, Tipperary is the worst with just one wheelchair accessible taxi for every 28,000 people. By contrast, Dublin has one wheelchair accessible taxi for every 2,000 people.

In terms of growing the fleet by 10%, it matters where the 10% is located because disability is not something that is unique to one location. Has a more targeted approach been proposed for areas where very significant deficiencies in the service has shown up? How can one ensure there is a universal spread in terms of a service if one does not implement a targeted approach, as well as grow the number? I presume the 10% is a target. It would be nice if that target was exceeded.

I would like to hear more about the measurement of outcomes. If one does not have a plan there will be no outcomes and one cannot see if progress has been made.

Ms Graham mentioned that providers are given two years to move towards providing an accessible service. Are there situations where there is an accessible service but when the NTA moved to a tender process the service disimproved only to improve again in two years' time? Would that be something the NTA would not permit? We do not want the service to go backwards and forwards. If there is a fully accessible fleet then there should be a comparable competitive tender. I mean the competitive tender should be like with like.

Could the witness give an indication of the costs for retrofitting older public transport or if any work has been done on that? It would be useful for us to have that in our report. For example, is it possible to retrofit the rail services with automatic ramps? With regard to bus stops, does the National Transport Authority have a plan and then require the local authorities, if the local authorities are involved at all, to implement the plan? How is that carried out? What we do not want is a very enthusiastic local authority using all the money and it not being in the worst part of the country. It should have a reasonable spread. There is a €30 million scoping project relating to DART for the announcements and the visual upgrades. Is there a timeline for it being implemented? Does it all have to be implemented at the same time or does Ms Graham have information on that?

Ms Graham referred to compulsory acquisition powers with regard to bus stops. How advanced is the authority on being clear about what it is seeking, and is there buy-in from the Department to include that in legislation? Where is the engagement on that? In terms of the legislative changes regarding the use of the section on the bus, what is the position with that? When might we see that appearing in either primary or secondary legislation, if that is necessary?