John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Murray and Mr. Moran and his mother, Ms Catherine Moran. I commend the committee on taking on this important issue, which, fundamentally, relates to equal rights. Ms Murray is correct, I believe she was referring to Rosa Parks when she spoke about revolutions starting on buses. Rosa Parks lived in an apartheid state in America and was told where she could and could not sit on the bus. We have a totally unequal system whereby Ms Murray is not even allowed on the bus in the first instance or she is told which bus she can or cannot get on, and is obliged to give 24 hours' notice of her intention to travel. That is wrong and I oppose it completely.

I know Padraic and have worked with him on this issue. We met the Minister only last week, a matter on which I will comment after Padraic makes his statement. We presented the Minister with a petition of over 3,000 signatures demanding equal access to our public transport system. The Government, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus are all paying lip-service in respect of this matter; they are just engaged in a box-ticking exercise. Someone who was good friend of mine, and who has passed away, was John Doyle. He was a wheelchair user who worked for the Disability Federation of Ireland. In the early 1990s, John and a small group of individuals led a campaign that focused on Dublin Bus, whose vehicles were wholly inaccessible to anyone in a wheelchair at the time. They chained themselves to the railings at Busáras, put it up to the company and forced it to change its perspective. Ultimately, it led to Dublin Bus updating and changing its fleet and introducing low-floor buses. That is where it ended. It was the company wanting to get these people off their backs and deciding to invest in it.

We have able-bodied people making decisions who do not look through the eyes of someone with a disability and who put in place what they think is needed without living the experience. It is something that Mr. Moran will speak about and it is clear from listening to Ms Murray that this is where the problems lie. In my own constituency of Wicklow, Bus Éireann operates the 133 route. Bus Éireann has invested in updating some of its fleet and that is welcome. In Wicklow, however, it is only possible to access buses at certain stops because the other critical pieces of infrastructure, such as higher footpaths to allow people to board, are lacking. It is only a box-ticking exercise.

I have some specific questions for Ms Murray. There should be free, unrestricted access to all public transport. It should not require 24 hours notice nor should it need four hours. That gives people with disabilities the message that they must live their lives in such a way that nothing unexpected may happen and that everything must be planned in advance. It is not acceptable for anyone to get sick or be spontaneous. That fundamentally treats them as unequal citizens. Having spoken to the Minister last week, I think he is slowly starting to appreciate the issue. I would like him to be more proactive in using public transport rather than tweeting when he gets on a bus for the first time. He might accompany the witnesses and see the difficulties that people experience. There have been minor improvements but what other restrictions are there? I gave the example of Rathnew in Wicklow where people with disabilities cannot access the stop for the 133 route in their home town and have to go elsewhere in order to get on the bus. What other restrictions are there, apart from those relating to the 24-hour notice?