Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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1835. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he expects, that under Regulation (EC) No 1371/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on rail passengers’ rights, he will apply for a further exemption to the sections of that regulation which stipulate that a member state will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that trains and other rail services are accessible and will provide assistance free of charge on board trains and during boarding and disembarking from trains; if so, the reason he expects that decision to be made; and if, in the meantime, he is working towards providing these services to disabled members of society. [26065/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​The European Union (Rail Passengers' Rights and Obligations) (Domestic Rail Services) (Renewal of Exemption) Regulations 2014 (S.I. No. 549 of 2014) partly renew exemption from certain Articles of Regulation (EC) No. 1371/2007 of the European Parliament and Council on rail passengers' rights and obligations, including Article 21(Accessibility) and Article 23 (Assistance on Board), until December 2019.  I expect that the position will be reviewed near that time.  In the meantime, steady progress is being made to improve rail accessibility for disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility.

Irish Rail provide detailed information on their website for intending passengers regarding accessibility and planning a journey.

On the infrastructure side, almost 60% of the 143 railway stations on the Irish Rail network have received accessibility upgrades or were constructed new to accessibility standards. The National Transport Authority manage the Accessibility Grants Programme on behalf of my Department.  Irish Rail have been given approval to carry out a programme of works to improve accessibility across the rail network and four stations (Mullingar, Carlow, Leixlip, and Rathdrum) have been identified for works to be carried out in 2016.  A fully accessible lift and associated works at platform 6/7 at Connolly station, Dublin, opened to the public in June 2016. 

I am informed that Irish Rail's policy is to have a portable wheelchair ramp at all stations to assist persons during boarding and disembarking from trains and that portable wheelchair ramps are also located on board InterCity trains. The safe deployment of these portable ramps require a staff member, and details about arranging for this are provided as part of the accessibility information for intending passengers on the website.

On the specific issue of an on-board service to assist with accessibililty during the actual rail journey, I understand that this is not available.

Overall, there is a continued focus on improving accessibility and this work will continue to be progressed in line with available funding. 

Finally, in relation to Luas, this infrastructure and rail service this is much newer and, from the beginning, the Luas stations, trains and service have been designed to enable accessibility.