Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like others, I was very sorry to hear about the passing of Bridget’s brother, Pat. I absolutely want to pass on my sympathies to Bridget in this very difficult time for her and her family.

I thank everybody who attended the briefing that I organised on Digital Day on the whole issue of digital accessibility for people with print disabilities, dyslexia, people who are blind and visually impaired and so on. More than 40 Members of the Oireachtas attended the briefing. I believe that people got a lot out of it. The comparison to a public building not being accessible to somebody with mobility impairment would horrify people at this day in age. Yet, most public websites, which are used by many to carry out their business, whether it is taxing cars, ordering passports, renewing driver licences and all sorts of things, are not accessible. Therefore, there is no equality in that. However, they can be made accessible very easily by just reconfiguring elements of the website. I commend organisations such as An Post, the Central Statistics Office, CSO, gov.ieand others that have made their websites accessible. I call on all other public bodies to adhere to the law and make their websites accessible.

In addition, I have spoken many times on the need on a fairer fare structure on trains and buses in this country. I have often used the example of going from Maynooth to Dublin and that being 40% cheaper than going from Ennis to Galway. There is no reason in the wide earthly world that there should be a differential in fares between Galway and Ennis and Ennis and Limerick compared with somewhere like Leixlip and Maynooth into Dublin. We need to have a debate here at some stage with the Minister for Transport on a fairer fare structure that would be fair to everybody. What is more is it would encourage people to use public transport. Given all of the good things that have happened in terms of the 20% fare reduction and 50% fare reduction for students, it is something that needs to be looked at.