Ms Diane Hill:

It gives an idea of how the cards work in practice. We piloted much of our training, and have realised that the JAM card can only go so far. We need organisations, every council area and all interested parties to get behind this and make sure that staff are aware of the cards. Staff may also need support to provide customer service for everybody. We believe that everyone should be provided with excellent customer service, regardless of his or her ability. We hope that people start to value that.

My request is that accessibility is made consistently available throughout Ireland. We work well with Translink but, unfortunately, Enterprise trains do not have the same service. We would prefer if it was consistent everywhere. This would support employment, well-being and many other aspects that support people who want to lead independent lives. It would also support the tourist experience, and be seen as an all-Ireland initiative. We want to develop partnerships within Ireland. We have been working with WALK and other organisations. We want to ensure that JAM cards are embedded in the community and are not just the responsibility of certain organisations. We have to ensure that the cards are used. I envisage that a two-year plan to implement JAM card usage throughout the transport links across Ireland is required. This would involve e-learning training for staff and also face-to-face training, ensuring that the use of the cards is embedded into the culture of the companies and that everyone has an understanding of them. We want to ensure that our training is supportive of the needs of every organisation we work with and that it supports every participant that requires it.