Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have two last points. I very much welcome the progress that has been made on the electrification of the fleet. It is great to see it; you can see the vehicles.

I have raised before and continue to raise the issue of access to buses for wheelchair users. Much good work has been done, such as the standardisation of new bus stops and ramps for getting onto the buses. Yet, with the best will in the world, there is still only space for one wheelchair at any given time on a Dublin Bus or a Go-Ahead Ireland bus. As we go into the future, technology will not make wheelchairs any smaller, and people in the disability sector will say that. Communities of people with disabilities in individual towns can be quite tight. They will be in contact with each other to say one of them will be getting a certain bus one day, such as the 10 o’clock bus, so if another person is further down the route, he or she will not be able to get on that bus. It is that level of planning that is involved. When we are looking at fleet provision into the future, perhaps we could look at providing as much space as possible for people with disabilities and wheelchair users.

It is great to see progress being made in terms of staffing and recruitment. The visible campaigns across Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland have been there for all to see and we are in a much better space. What happened last Thursday in Dublin makes that very difficult. All companies before the committee, as well as the Luas, are very proud of their diverse workforces. I can only imagine how difficult it is for any non-white workers in those companies who either are existing front-line transport workers or who are planning to go into the industry. Do any of the representatives have a comment on what that challenge has been like since the riots? Has anything extra needed to be done for the non-Irish workforce, such as comforting them and making them feel more secure? Has there been any impact in the past week in terms of service provision based on that?