Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests. I was glad to finally hear disability and accessibility mentioned during the meeting, nearly two hours in. That is very positive. I will focus on those two issues. They were not mentioned in the opening statements. Climate change and sustainability were, but disability and access for people with disabilities were not. I would like our guests' organisations to make that a priority. More than 20% of people in the country have disabilities, but the people responsible for carrying thousands of people around the country did not once mention disability in their statements.

Following on from what Deputy Kenny asked about, the colour of bus stops is definitely an issue, and the NTA was very disappointing when its representatives recently appeared before the Committee on Disability Matters. I genuinely think it does not have the best interests of people with disabilities at heart when it should do, and that is something our guests’ organisations are all up against. The bus stops were all supposed to be yellow, but they are now only a bit yellow. Yellow is the last colour people can see when they are losing sight. That proposal came from people with disabilities and it was changed for them, but the NTA is rowing back on that. What the representatives of the NTA said about island stops and bus stops was that when they got people into the room, no consensus was found, so it just did what it had wanted to do. It did consult, therefore, but the consultation did not resolve anything and it just went against people with disabilities.

My fear is that one of these organisations' bus drivers is going to witness a serious injury when there is a collision involving a cyclist, someone who is visually impaired, someone who cannot hear a bell being rung, a wheelchair user or someone who is just frail and cannot get across the cycle track quickly enough. That is not on the organisations, given they do not design the cycle tracks, but it will be on their bus drivers, who are going to witness it. As a favour to people with disabilities and all the organisations’ customers, I would like them to rail against that and work with the NTA to resolve it. Hundreds of these stops are being rolled out throughout Dublin and the rest of the country and it would be a great action to come out of this meeting for the organisations to say they do not want that because they do not want injuries. I do not know whether it will be Dublin City Council or someone else who will be responsible for the claim that is going to be made when someone is seriously injured.

Turning to Bus Éireann, when a bus has been cancelled, is there any impact assessment? I refer to cases where someone reports a bus as having been cancelled, they are standing at a bus stop in the middle of nowhere, and they might be visually impaired and have no other way of getting home. I appreciate there is communication on Twitter, or X, and a mention of the regional operator but it is no good. What does Bus Éireann do for people when buses do not show up? It makes vulnerable people far more vulnerable.

In 2017, research showed that only 63% of Bus Éireann Expressway services were accessible. Has that number increased since then?

I would like the operators to supply me with an age profile of their fleets and the lifetime of a low-floor, single-decker or double-decker bus within the PSO service. It might be something they could revert to me on. How many low-floor buses are awaiting disposal and how many are taken out of the PSO service as a result of a new fleet having been purchased?

There is an issue with free travel whereby people are being charged to reserve a seat on the Bus Éireann Expressway. I appreciate it is a commercial operation, but surely someone with a free travel pass should not be charged to reserve a seat on Bus Éireann. Will that be reviewed?

Mr. Stephen Kent: They began as blue and, because of the input of those user groups, they have moved to the colour pallet that is being used and rolled out national

I have set out my issues with the NTA.

With regard to the private operators, what engagement have they had from the NTA about making their fleet accessible? As we know, the NTA has the power under the legislation to insist with their bus operating licence that they would be accessible. What has the NTA done to encourage private operators to purchase wheelchair accessible fleets and to support them in changing over? We know it is expensive. What is the expense for a private operator on a commercial fleet to change over to being wheelchair accessible and having next-stop audio-visual technology and these types of things if the NTA is not supporting private operators to change over? Matthews Coach Hire has revolutionised transport between Dundalk and Dublin for people in counties Louth and Meath. No offence to Bus Éireann but it was not really accessible before Matthews Coach Hire came in. What, if anything, is the NTA doing to support operators to be able to change over to accessible fleets? Has there been any engagement between the NTA and private operators whatsoever?.