Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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409. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide an update on the policy proposals for the provision of transport supports for persons with disabilities including the Working Group established under Action 104 of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy to review transport supports encompassing all Government-funded transport and mobility schemes for those with disabilities and the review of the disabled drivers and passengers (tax concessions) scheme by the Department of Finance . [45856/22]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Action 104 of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS) commits to a review  of existing transport schemes and the development of proposals as to how a coordinated plan might be developed to enhance the options for transport to work or employment for people with disabilities. This Action is being progressed through the Transport Working Group, which was established to implement the NDIS Action.

The issue of transport supports for people with disabilities is a key priority for me as Minister of State with Responsibility for Disability. I chaired the most recent meeting of the Transport Working Group on 6 September 2022. At this meeting, the results of a scoping exercise of existing transport/mobility schemes for persons with disabilities was discussed. This discussion involved presentations from Government Departments on relevant schemes under their remit, and was conducted on foot of a stock taking exercise my Department conducted on existing schemes and provision across the state.

With the scoping exercise completed, the current focus of the Group's work is on assessing the gaps and challenges in provision. A call for submissions on specific proposals from members of the Transport Working Group was launched on 16 September, with group members having been briefed on existing provision. This will inform the creation of a ‘proposals paper’ on the provision of mobility and transport schemes, which will provide a basis and evidence base for further work and policy direction on the provision of coordinated supports.