Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 169: To ask the Minister for Transport the progress made to date in acting upon the recommendations of the report Getting There - Transport and Access to Social Services. [19579/10]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The Citizens Information Board's Report "Getting There – Transport and Access to Social Services" explores a range of issues relating to the availability of transport services and the supporting measures and schemes to enable people access transport appropriate to their needs. The matters raised in the report fall within the competence of a number of Departments and public bodies, including my Department, the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Health and Children, the Department of Education and Skills, the Revenue Commissioners and the Health Services Executive.

The report raises issues which my Department had recognised as important in developing rural transport and in making transport accessible, and these are already being progressed. The Transport Sectoral Plan under the Disability Act 2005, Transport for All, provides for the delivery of an accessible public transport system by 2015. In addition, a number of initiatives are currently underway in the country exploring the potential for better integration of services between existing transport providers, which include Bus Éireann, Rural Transport Programme groups, the HSE, and the Irish Wheelchair Association.