Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The issue of rural rail should not come down to a debate between rural Ireland and urban Ireland. The reality is that billions have been spent on transportation in Dublin city on the Luas cross-city service, and it is appropriate that this is the case, but people living in rural Ireland have the right to be able to commute from one town to another. Elderly people living in parts of west Clare have a legitimate expectation of getting a bus into Ennis and onto Limerick, reasonably comfortably. That is not the case at the moment. It is good that a public consultation has been announced but we need to realise that we have to invest in public transport, not just in urban Ireland but in rural Ireland too.

I also wish to raise the issue of the accessibility of our railway stations as many of them across the country are not accessible for people with disabilities. It would not cost a fortune to make them accessible and I ask the Leader to facilitate a debate on this particular issue of how we make our public railway and bus stations accessible to people who have mobility impairments, such as elderly people. It is totally unacceptable that the busy railway station at Ennis, the capital town of County Clare, has no lift to take wheelchair passengers from one platform to the other. In this day and age it is not acceptable and we should not stand by and allow it to continue..