Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The review group is a rather wide-ranging group which includes people with a specific interest in transport for people with disabilities. There is a difficulty if we limit it to that. If we were to devise a transport scheme for people with disabilities and we defined a disability, then we would be asked about the rest of the people and then the Equal Status Act would come into play. It is rather complex. The people on the committee have a particular interest in transport for people with disabilities. They are as convinced as we are that we need to devise a transport scheme for all and rural transport to the fore in our minds.

I do not go along with the cliché to the effect that we should take this as an opportunity. However, the only way we can address this is to devise a transport scheme that will serve us better in the future. That does not take away from the difficulty. I am mindful of the fact that there are people who depend on this allowance, and providing a transport scheme will not alleviate the impending hardship.

We are considering all aspects of the issue. If it were possible to find a solution to the issue, we would have found it. This is not something the Government wanted to do. As Deputy Kelleher correctly stated, we have agonised over this, but we will continue to be completely engaged to ensure we find a solution. We have asked the review committee to come back within three months. We are not starting from a blank page.

The difficulty is that we do not map anything. Let us suppose we were to map what is available in terms of transport in this country, including the school transport scheme, rural transport - limited as it is - and organisations such as the Irish Wheelchair Association, which has a transport fleet, and Vantastic. If we were to map all of these services we should be able to provide a transport service for everyone. That does not take away from the hardship that will be imposed on people in terms of income, and we are mindful of that.

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