Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)

From a policy perspective, the Government announced the national human rights strategy for disabled people on 3 September 2025. Pillar 5 of the strategy, "Transport and Mobility”, contains a number of transport priority actions, which I am proud to say will be led by our Department. The strategy puts great importance on engagement with disabled people.

The Minister, Deputy O’Brien, met with members of the disability sector on 29 September last for a constructive dialogue around our shared ambition to ensure 100% transport accessibility in Ireland. I have also met them. The Minister and I welcomed the opportunity to hear views on transport accessibility and the pillar 5 actions at the start of the new strategy. It was a valuable and rewarding exchange with disabled persons organisations, service providers, disability user groups and board representatives from transport operators. I believe that only by engaging with those who have lived experience of disability can we truly remove the barriers they face daily. I commend Ciarán Delaney from Cork, who has briefed me extensively on this very important issue.

In short, I want disabled people, whether they live in urban or rural areas, to have the same access to choice in their transport options as everyone else. As Deputy Ó Muirí will know, there are three aspects to improving public transport accessibility: ensuring a universal design approach in all new infrastructure, addressing legacy infrastructure deficits and enabling independent travel. We have an ambitious programme of investment planned for the next five years, all of which will adhere to the principles of universal design and, therefore, help deliver a more inclusive transport network in the years ahead. The real challenge is legacy infrastructure. To give an example, the major accessibility upgrade which opened at Athy station on 4 November was funded from this programme. The Minister has increased funding under the accessibility retrofit programme by 67% this year when compared to last year. We will maintain that increased level of funding under the new NDP.

See this speech in context