John Dolan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome. My constituency comprises over 600,000 people but they are not able to go anywhere with ease or comfort. I am sorry to say the Minister's statement gives very little, if any, comfort.

He commenced by saying that public transport can be of great assistance to those with reduced mobility to provide an accessible mode of transport. Page 3 of his statement refers to the objective of the review which is twofold, namely, sustainable public transport and meeting the needs of a modern economy. There is more to this than the economy. There is nothing in between in the statement. There is a nod to people with disabilities and then the statement moves on.

The Taoiseach and, more recently, the Minister's colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy McGrath, gave commitments in the House that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities would be ratified by the end of this year. Ratification means one thing, namely, implementation. In the year ahead will the Minister bring about changes? There are major deficiencies in public transport services within his area.

I will name just three areas. For DART, rail and Bus Éireann, 24 hours notice is required if one wishes to travel. There are still incidents where people are unable to travel or make a return journey. Why is it that only Dublin Bus has integrated assistive technology throughout its fleet for those who are visually or hearing impaired? Some of the new vehicles in the Bus Éireann fleet have information displayed on screens, but no audio announcements. Why is there a specification for the Pale and a non-standard specification for the rest of the country?

A significant proportion of the Bus Éireann fleet has nothing to aid passengers who are visually or hearing impaired having an independent bus journey experience. That disparity needs to be dealt with by the Minister.

Wheelchair spaces should be mandatory on Dublin buses, regional bus services and Irish Rail. The spaces were hard fought for and put there for a reason. They are not spaces for a buggy. Rather, they are spaces for people with disabilities. Why does the Minister continue to resist the protection of these spaces for wheelchair users? It should be made an offence to abuse the spaces.Currently, a driver or an official can only request someone else to vacate the space. In August last I requested a brief meeting with the Minister on implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, and on the need for a strong reference in his Department's strategy statement to people with disabilities also being members of the public to be served. A second letter which I issued in that regard in October received an acknowledgement. The Minister might take the opportunity to confirm today the disability inclusion intentions of his Department's strategy statement.

I request that the Minister return to this House to set out the advances that disabled passengers will experience by this time next year and throughout the next number of years, which advances should resonate with the ambition of the statement in the charter for change signed by him last January, including that discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated. We are still tolerating discrimination. The charter also commits to equal access for all but this is not being delivered on for people with disabilities at this time. It further states that Ireland's most vulnerable people must be protected but this is not happening for disabled people. In regard to the statement that the Government should ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities without delay, there are six weeks remaining of this year within which to do so. I look forward to the Minister's return to this House.