Dáil debates

Thursday, 30 November 2017

4:35 pm

Photo of John BradyJohn Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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There is real genuine concern among people right across the east coast who use the DART service that the downgrading of stations seems to be going ahead. It is certainly going ahead in my constituency. I am aware the Minister is also a resident of the Wicklow constituency. To use a terrible pun, it is full steam ahead for the downgrading of Greystones DART station. Iarnród Éireann has put out tenders to let the train station out as a commercial premises. The station will move to an unmanned service, which will have detrimental impacts on the people in Greystones, young and old, but on disabled users in particular. I have been hearing from staff within Iarnród Éireann that there are broader, larger plans to move towards a greater number of unmanned stations. We know this is not only being rolled out on the DART line but throughout the rail service across the State. To date, 34 train stations have moved from a manned service to an unmanned service. As I touched on, this will have an impact on people and communities. It will affect elderly people as no one will be available to help them to purchase their tickets. It will also affect our disabled citizens. There has been some positive progress in respect of access to public transport for people with disabilities.

At this point I want to put on record my sincere condolences to a constituent, friend and colleague of mine, John Doyle, who during the course of his life was a disability rights campaigner who campaigned for independent living.

He passed away on Sunday night and his funeral took place this morning. Throughout his life, John, along with others, fought long and hard to try to make our public transport system accessible to people with disabilities. He and others were fundamental in forcing Dublin Bus into acquiring the new bus fleet, with low floors accessible by wheelchairs, that was rolled out in the 1990s. There has been progress on that, and also in terms of the 24-hour notice which wheelchair users and people with disabilities have to give to train stations and Iarnród Éireann. A trial programme will be rolled out in the new year and this will reduce the notice period for people with disabilities who want to use public transport to four hours. That is not acceptable. There should be total equality across the board. People with disabilities should be able to use our public transport services at any time without having to give notice. Reducing the notice period to four hours is welcome, but it should be zero hours.

The downgrading of DART stations is going to have a major impact and will destroy any progress that has been made. I am informed that a plan for Greystones, which will see it become an unmanned train station in the new year, is due to be rolled out. Is the Minister aware of any other plans? Has he been speaking to the NTA or Iarnród Éireann about plans to have other unmanned DART stations in Dublin and Wicklow? What consultation has taken place?

4:45 pm

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Brady for raising this very important matter. It is quite unusual for a Deputy to be questioning a constituent and making that constituent accountable for what happens in his or her own constituency. However, I am happy to answer his question about accessibility.

I take the Deputy's point about reduction to a four-hour notice period not being sufficient. People with impaired mobility are currently required to notify train stations of their intention to travel at least 24 hours in advance if they require assistance. I agree that this is totally unacceptable and that we should aspire to total equality between people with and without disabilities in accessing public transport. Irish Rail hopes to commence, early in the new year, a pilot project in respect of the DART which is aimed at reducing the period of advanced notice from 24 hours to four by guaranteeing staffing across grouped stations and ensuring flexibility to enable staff to move between stations to provide assistance. Irish Rail anticipates that the pilot project will run for six months, at which point the information gleaned will be used to inform how best to develop its customer service across all networks. I hope that particular experiment will extend beyond Irish Rail to Dublin Bus and other public transport services.

I completely accept Deputy Brady's bone fides. He highlights the need for haste in this matter. Things seem to be moving very slowly. The amount of money that has been allocated to improve accessibility this year and into the future has increased enormously, and will, while I am a Minister, increase even faster. The four-year capital envelope for public transport announced in budget 2018 includes a multi-annual allocation of almost €28 million for the accessibility retrofit programme for the period 2018 to 2021. This represents a trebling of the previous allocation for accessibility under the plan. That is a convincing commitment to public transport accessibility, on which I insisted. I recognise that difficulties exist not only in the context of the downgrading of the DART but also in other areas of public transport. That is why we have given such a large increase to improve accessibility. It is also why we are launching this pilot scheme to see if we can reduce the notice period. Ideally, there would be no notice period. However, we cannot achieve that overnight.

There are also other projects involving Dublin Bus. In conjunction with the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Finian McGrath, I launched a "Please Don't Buggy in the Wheelchair Zone" campaign with Dublin Bus recently. The purpose of this campaign is to deal with the issue of buggies blocking access for people with wheelchairs. There is a public campaign to increase awareness about this issue. Please do not doubt the commitment of the Government to this issue. It is being hastened and is a priority. We will insist upon that.

On the issue of the Greystones Station, Iarnród Éireann has taken the opportunity to assess whether there is any commercial interest in the ground floor of the station building, particularly as the existing area reserved for retail is vacant. While seeking expressions of interest, there has been no change to any arrangements - including staffing - of how the station functions. Iarnród Éireann will be in a position to assess the degree of commercial interest in the station building early next year. This will enable it to make a decision on the station's future use and it will be done in tandem with a review of staffing. Customer needs will be taken into consideration should there be any change.

Photo of John BradyJohn Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I want to hone in on one sentence the Minister uttered. He said that ideally we could get to a position where people with disabilities will not need to give notice. However, the move towards unmanned DART stations will ensure that never happens. We need stations to be manned in order that disabled citizens can be assisted in getting on and off public transport. While the Minister may aspire to that, if the downgrading of our train or DART stations goes ahead, we will ensure that citizens will not get equal access to public transport. There is real concern about this. I am hearing from staff in Iarnród Éireann that this is a done deal.

There is talk of letting out the train station in Greystones to commercial interests. I would argue that the space there is not available at the moment because it is used as staff quarters. The company is moving quite swiftly towards converting it to an unmanned station. What other DART stations are being looked at in this regard? Has consultation taken place, particularly with disability organisations? There is concern about this matter. Sydney Parade Station services St. Vincent's Hospital and we know there are no direct buses from Wicklow that serve the hospital. The DART is the only public transport available in this regard. If that station is not manned, people with disabilities will be disenfranchised; they will not be able to get to St. Vincent's. Sandymount Station services the Enable Ireland premises that houses a school for disabled children. If that station is not manned, there are going to be problems.

Ideally, there should be no notice period. What specific consultations have taken place with Iarnród Éireann?

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I have responsibility for policy and overall funding of public transport. I am not involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport. The operation of DART stations is a matter for Iarnród Éireann and is not an issue in respect of which I have any statutory function.

For customers requiring assistance, Iarnród Éireann plans to confirm new arrangements for mobility-impaired customers shortly which will dramatically reduce the current advance notification period and ensure a better response when customers requiring assistance cannot give notice. These new arrangements are being designed following extensive customer research and liaison with the company's disability users' group.

It is absolutely imperative that people with disabilities are accommodated and we should aspire to the ideal we both mentioned. Like every service, CIÉ, Iarnród Éireann and Dublin Bus must continually adapt and change in line with trends in customer behaviour and technology. We cannot ignore advancing technology.

Regarding the issue of station staffing which the Deputy mentioned, I understand from Iarnród Éireann that this is under review in response to changed customer behaviour, with customers moving to prepaid ticketing and ticket vending machines. This obviously alters the pattern of how stations are staffed. The company has indicated that key stations such as Killester and Sandymount, which are adjacent to major facilities for the mobility-impaired, will always be staffed.

4:55 pm

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Members and the Ministers who dealt with the issues raised.