Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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214. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider introducing an allowance or subsidy for disabled individuals to help cover the rising costs of taxi services, given that taxi fares have increased by 21% since September 2022, and recognizing the additional challenges faced by disabled individuals in accessing public transportation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35386/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to 'open' public transport. This means that the funding allocated by the Oireachtas to my Department is for public transport services and infrastructure, rather than for personal mobility type payment, or subsidy, schemes.

I am very committed to continually making public transport more accessible for disabled people. For example, new public transport services under Bus Connects and the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan use accessible bus fleets. In addition, the allocation to retrofit older inaccessible public transport has increased by 67% this year compared to last year and the number of wheelchair accessible taxis has risen to 25% of the fleet, up from 4% in 2014.

We are also providing supports to enable disabled people to travel independently on public transport, including expansion of the successful Independent Transport Support scheme and the Just A Minute (JAM) card. The various public transport fare reduction initiatives introduced in recent years are also of benefit to disabled people, including those with hidden, or invisible, disabilities who might not qualify under the Free Travel Scheme.

However, in view of my open public transport remit outlined above, I have no plans to introduce the subsidy scheme for taxis referred to by the Deputy.