Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Today, a group of protestors will be outside Leinster House asking for a simple, common-sense approach. The protestors are concerned about the lack of transport equality for disabled people. The Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport will be discussing the accessibility of public transport for people with disabilities today. It is terrible that they have to be tough but this Government makes their lives tough. Did the Members know that to travel in a wheelchair, one has to notify Iarnród Éireann 24 hours in advance that one will be taking the train? It was announced earlier this year, as part of the national disability inclusion strategy, that there would be a pilot project that would reduce notice time to four hours for the DART. Yes, a wheelchair user cannot simply decide to take a train. There is beauty and charm to Irish stations, and I am certainly not advocating major restructuring work. I am simply calling for some common sense. We have mobile technology, we have the Internet. Why is it that a wheelchair user or someone with a disability cannot turn up and wait for a train like everyone else? Why is it that the line cannot just be switched following a simple phone call?

I have witnessed and heard of wheelchair users being abandoned on a platform waiting for the next train or being pushed up a ramp by some huffing and puffing, although kind, stranger because no assistant was available. Worse, like many Members, I have heard stories of taxis having to be called because a train cannot accommodate the wheelchair. In this day and age, this is appalling treatment. This is not equal rights. We should hear more about this from the Minister of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross. I would like to know more and I call for the Minister to come to the House to discuss this issue.