Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of accessibility.We have heard quite a lot about it recently and there has rightly been a focus on accessibility, particularly on public transport. I live in an area where we thankfully have the DART. Iarnród Éireann invested a lot of money in putting in new DART bridges that have lifts and make both platforms accessible. However, as often as not, they seem not to work. It is unreasonable that just because someone is a wheelchair user, whether he or she can use the DART is at the whim of whether somebody has fixed that lift. If using Bus Éireann, it is worse. People have to give 24 hours' notice before they get the bus. It is not an acceptable way to proceed.

I recently saw a story posted by an Irish paralympian who travelled for her sport. She is a wheelchair user. She flew with an airline and when she got to her destination - I think it was London - her wheelchair was not to be found. Losing a wheelchair on an aircraft is not like losing a set of golf clubs or a suitcase, however inconvenient or unfortunate that might be for the person who owns them. A wheelchair is part and parcel of the mobility and accessibility of an individual who needs it. They are not cheap either. They cost thousands of euro.

We have to look at this, particularly in a situation where persons have to surrender their means of transport when they get on a plane. We should put in place a mechanism showing that this is not acceptable from airlines, handlers or whoever is responsible. There seems to be a dispute about who is actually responsible. There should be a very clear penalty for companies that do not take seriously the responsibility they have as custodians not just of the passenger but of the passenger's means to leave the airport afterwards. When a person arrives at a destination in an airplane and the wheelchair is not available when he or she gets off the plane, there must be a serious penalty to make a serious public policy statement about how seriously we take that. If there was a proper monetary measure involved, airlines would not be cavalier about this kind of thing. A wheelchair should be the last thing to go on a plane so it is available first thing when the plane lands. We need to take this seriously. We should have a debate about this. We as a House should be putting down a very clear marker that we take mobility and accessibility seriously and that we are willing to put that on the record.