Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I completely agree with the Deputy in respect of this matter. As soon as a very robust business case is made available to the Department, I will consider the matter. However, I am not going to spend taxpayers' money without first being in possession of a proper, fully costed proposal. Such a proposal has not yet been forthcoming. I would be very favourably disposed towards increasing accessibility but I will not do so willy-nilly.

Provision for public transport is made in Transport 21. There is also the public transport accessibility committee and €15 million has been provided for accessibility improvement projects. I could see that the outline proposal or the type of proposal put forward could be favourably considered under that once the case is properly made. I assure the Deputy that I will not delay responding to that and making the recommendation to the Department of Finance. However, I have not received a properly robust business case.

The total number of wheelchair-accessible taxis is just under 1,400, almost double the number in November 2000, so it is not true to say that there are fewer such taxis.

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