Mr. Dermot O'Leary:

My colleagues from the three companies the union represents are in the Public Gallery. That is a demonstration of the commitment to access for people with disabilities that we have. I will explain more later.

I thank the committee for the invitation to attend this hearing on access to public transport for people with disabilities. Any decent society, particularly a first world country such as ours, should be measured on how it treats its most vulnerable citizens, both those with visible ailments that are easily recognisable and those that outwardly, at least, look full-bodied and able minded, but are carrying some burden that afflicts their everyday lives.

As general secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union, NBRU, the foremost front-line transport trade union in Ireland, I am committed to ensuring that nobody is treated in a less favourable manner to any fellow citizen. However, our national infrastructure and the provisions made for people with disabilities fall far short of what is required and casts those with responsibility for such facilities in an extremely bad light. While the Dublin Bus fleet is 100% wheelchair accessible and Bus Éireann's public service obligation, PSO, and commercial fleets are almost 100% wheelchair accessible, the ability to deliver people with disabilities to their location or stop of choice is severely restricted by the shameful condition of some of footpaths and hard-stands across the country. The responsibility for this lies with both national and local authorities. The National Transport Authority, NTA, has previously stated that the local councils have jurisdiction over the provision of infrastructure to facilitate disability access and embarkation onto our bus transport system. This is a cop-out, and the so-called authority, which is master of all it surveys in respect transport provision, should not be allowed to get away with such mealy-mouthed responses. This crowd now have so much of a stranglehold over funding and revenue streams that it can even charge for advertising on bus shelters throughout the bus network. This is surely ironic, given that those same shelters are located adjacent to the very locations that do not have adequate infrastructural facilities for disability access. It is not much of a stretch to suggest that some of this income stream could be directed towards providing wheelchair accessibility countrywide.

Stripping the much needed subvention over recent years from the three CIÉ companies has also had a direct impact on accessibility. There have been reports in the media, for example, of people being stranded on trains. This is not a reflection on the hardworking front-line staff. Rather, it is reflective of the attitude of successive Governments, which have cut funding for public transport. What is not mentioned, of course, is the fact that more than 3,000 jobs have been shed in Irish Rail over the past 15 years. Quite a number of those were shed to enable the company to cut its cloth in terms of State subvention, leading directly to the recent problems at that company regarding disability access. For example, the number of unmanned stations has mushroomed over recent years.

It has been a source of great disappointment to all of us at the NBRU that some commentary on the accessibility issue has sought to lay the blame at the door of front-line bus and rail workers. Nothing could be further from the truth. I want to make it abundantly clear to the committee that there are absolutely no industrial relation impediments to accessibility for any of our fellow citizens across the bus and train services run by CIÉ. Our members will fully co-operate with any initiative which will assist towards making all locations 100% accessible.

The NBRU has also, over the past number of years, being campaigning for sufficient funding for the three CIÉ companies for the so-called free travel scheme. There has been much discourse, on many media platforms, on this issue, particularly during the unfortunate Bus Éireann dispute last year. Much of it, unfortunately, centred on the notion that it is a free pass. The NBRU believes this is fundamentally wrong on a number of levels. We should have long ago changed the emphasis and perhaps the title of such travel into something which supports the entitlement of our most vulnerable. Perhaps the committee might lend its support to changing it to something more appropriate and potentially less stigmatising such as the social mobility card.

The entire bus and rail fleet, both private and State-owned, PSO and commercial, should be required compulsorily to be mobility friendly. Engineering infrastructural solutions need to be advanced to provide persons with difficulties to have access to all buses and trains. Front-line staff should be fully trained to assist those with disabilities. All the of these require funding. The onus is on the Government to commit to providing such funding. No excuses should be offered or tolerated.