Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. There is a great deal to say about inaccessible transport. We have to be really realistic here. Much of the time, public transport in Ireland is completely inaccessible and unwelcoming for many people. Best intentions and good work are all very positive and welcome but we have to be real. People with disabilities contact me because they feel unsafe and unwelcome on public transport.

For people who are visually impaired and waiting on a train platform, it is a problem when there are no announcements because they cannot see the board. There should be a way for them to identify what platform they are on. I know a lady who got on the wrong train because the platform was changed at the last minute and she ended up in Bray instead of travelling in the opposite direction. That may be a small matter but it is a huge safety issue for someone. The woman was sitting on a train when she heard the next stop was Tara Street, whereas she thought it would be Drogheda. We can imagine how lost she felt.

I very much welcome the changing places. We need more of them. It is strange that we are now celebrating allowing people to urinate with dignity. That is a sad statement. We should not have to celebrate getting changing places toilets. Will this basic facility be rolled out in every station? We should not be celebrating people being able to use toilets. How many toilets have been put in under the changing places initiative over the past number of years and how many are planned?

The NTA witnesses and I will disagree on many things. The NTA has to up its game on accessibility. It has to understand what accessibility is and accept it. Does it have a definition of accessibility? How does it rate accessibility?

On taxis, how many accessible taxi licences have been awarded in recent years? Have incentives been offered to increase the number of accessible taxis? Ms Graham mentioned that there a requirement could be made on one of these loops to have consideration for people and give way to people in wheelchairs or with disabilities. It could be done but will it be done? Will we get a commitment to do that this evening? Public transport services feature signs asking people to give way to people with disabilities and show consideration for other people’s accessibility issues.

As regards the scheme for a private accessible fleet, Ms Graham stated there was a consultation in 2019 and that the NTA has includes such considerations in licence agreements. Does the NTA have timelines as to when that will be done? Ms Graham said work was done on this in 2019. Why does that work have to be redone? What is wrong with the work that was done in 2019?

On the consultation the NTA is undertaking in the second quarter of 2024, what are the framework and terms of reference for the consultation? Is the NTA consulting people with disabilities? Does consulting mean getting people in a room and if they cannot agree, the NTA will move on and do what it sees fit?

We know from parliamentary questions submitted in the past couple of years that the NTA does not set out regulations or mandatory accessibility requirements for designers. It uses guidance documents instead. There is different guidance on accessibility. The NTA is responsible for public transport as far as it allows people with disabilities the freedom to live and to have the audacity to have a job and a social life. How is it working in relation to the contradictory accessibility guidelines that are out there?

With regard to the floating islands, it seems that no agreement was reached and priority was given to cyclists, with the safety of those with disabilities de-prioritised. Cyclists can get off a bike but a person who is visually impaired cannot see and a person in a wheelchair cannot get out of a wheelchair. How many bus islands will be installed in the next three to six months? Who will be liable for accidents on bus routes? Somebody will be seriously injured and I am not sure if Ms Graham is aware of the Irish Wheelchair Association’s Getting Nowhere publication. I suggest she read it and check on the IWA's website how much public transport infrastructure the NTA is responsible for. The NTA is taking a retrograde step and disincentivising people with disabilities from using public transport. We now have someone who has lived and worked in Dublin and travelled around the city for her entire life no longer using public transport because of the bus islands. She cannot see bus stops because the colour has changed from yellow to grey. Ms Graham said they are now yellow. She can see yellow but she is not visually impaired.