Senator tells of man who missed flight to Wales because 100X bus to airport was not accessible
Louth Senator Erin McGreehan has called on the Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, to ensure that public transport infrastructure is accessible for everyone.
The Fianna Fáil Senator raised the issue in the Seanad with the Minister following two recent reports of public transport providers failing to accommodate disabled passengers.
Senator McGreehan told the Minister that a Louth man was prevented from traveling to Wales to see a relative as the Bus Éireann 100X service to Dublin airport was not accessible despite the fact that he had notified Bus Éireann of his intention to travel two weeks in advance.
“The infrastructure on public transport does not fully enable the freedom of movement on all modes of transport” McGreehan said. This is not only about access, it is about having to give notice. It is about singling people out to be different, making them do things differently to those of us who are able-bodied.
“The lack of accessible transport services impacts on inclusion, social interaction, jobs, education and mental health. The cost of living with a disability affects not only the disabled person but his or her family and community, as well as every aspect of his or her life.
“For some disabled people, transport is inaccessible for small and simple reasons such as human error, lengthy pre-booking requirements, and inaccessible routes and because the built environment does not link with the transport service, that is, the bus does not connect with the pavement.”
Senator McGreehan presented Minister Ryan with Independent Living Movement Ireland’s position paper on accessible transport and upholding our obligations under Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Minister Ryan said that his Department and its agencies are progressively making public transport accessible for people with disabilities, including in rural areas, by ensuring that new infrastructure and services are accessible from the start, and by retrofitting older legacy infrastructure and facilities to make them accessible. The next accessibility work programme update will be published in early December on the gov.ie portal, he added.
“Accessibility is not about equality. We are all equal and we all should have equal access. Accessibility is about equity. We need to build equity within the infrastructure and create a fairer society.
Citizens with disabilities deserve every single right and deserve not to have barriers put in front of them. Almost 15% of the population has some sort of a disability and, therefore, are a huge cohort of our friends and community,” concluded Senator McGreehan.
