Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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1210. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the dates of all meetings of the Oireachtas Transport Working Group in 2020, 2021 and 2022; if minutes are published in respect of these meetings; his plans for the publication of same; the date of the next scheduled meeting of the working group; if he will report on the work of the working group, particularly in relation to its role in the review of the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30865/22]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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A Transport Working Group was established in 2020 to drive Action 104 of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS). It is not however an Oireachtas Working Group.

Action 104 of the NDIS commits that a review will be conducted of existing transport schemes, and a coordinated plan will be developed to enhance the options for transport to work or employment for people with disabilities.

The Transport Working Group has met twice, with the first meeting taking place in March 2020 and the second meeting taking place in January 2022. The work of the group was paused for a time during the pandemic, to prioritise the pandemic response, while the work of the main NDIS Steering Group continued.

I chaired the most recent meeting of the Transport Working Group at the end of January 2022. Draft minutes have been prepared but have not been formally adopted by the Group. Minutes to date have not been published, and I have no plans to do so, having regard to the range of stakeholders present, some of whom are not public servants and attend on a voluntary basis. It would be appropriate that any potential decision regarding publication would first be put to the Group.

Following engagement from my colleague the Minister of Finance Paschal Donohoe T.D. last year, it was decided to use the Transport Working Group to assist with the review of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme. However, legislative and budgetary responsibility for the Scheme continues to lie with the Department of Finance, in the same manner that individual transport measures, supports and schemes remain the responsibility of parent departments and agencies across the Review Group's membership.

The current focus of the Group's work is on scoping the provision of transport supports across government departments and public bodies, with a view to assessing gaps or anomalies in provision. A substantive amount of material has been received by my Department and is being analysed in advance of scheduling a further meeting, which will be organised in the coming weeks.