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TRANSPORT MINISTER SHANE Ross has said it is “unacceptable” that disabled passengers have to give Irish Rail 24 hours’ notice before they travel.
It’s currently the case that disabled travellers who want to travel by train must contact the service 24 hours in advance in order to ensure there is an accessible ramp and staff available at the station.
The minister told the Dáil that Irish Rail hopes to commence a pilot project on the DART early in the new year aimed at reducing the period of advance notice for disabled passengers from 24 to four hours.
Sinn Féin’s Imelda Munster questioned Ross on the 24-hour period and what new schemes are being rolled out to tackle the issue.
Ross said staff will be grouped across stations to ensure Irish Rail employees can move between stations to provide assistance at shorter notice.
When pushed to answer if he thought it was acceptable that disabled passengers have to give such a long-period of notice, he said:
I believe that is unacceptable. I am delighted the National Transport Authority, NTA, has approved a pilot project and that Iarnród Éireann is doing that. I hope it works and that it is followed by all the other companies.
A 24-hour notification period is far too long. I want to see a transport system which treats and facilitates disabled people in exactly the same way that it treats people who are not disabled. That is the ambition we should be seeking to achieve. We do not currently have the infrastructure or the buses but we are moving in that direction.
The issue has been raised a number of times over the last year.
There have been reports of some passengers having to wait for 15 minutes for assistance to arrive to help them off a train, while others have complained the long-period of notice rules out any sort of last-minute social plans.
A spokesperson for the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) told TheJournal.ie in July that providing at least 24 hours notice is a major issue for its members.
“This is quite a major issue for quite a few of our members, especially people with disabilities living in rural areas because there are many trains and train stations that are unmanned throughout the country,” the spokesperson said.
The mandatory notice is specifically troubling to those who need to travel last-minute, according to the IWA.
The National Transport Authority has also commenced a tender competition for medium-distance bus and coaches, which will allow unbooked wheelchairs to board with normal ramp access on Bus Éireann PSO services, said the minister.
He added that the NTA currently has plans to purchase new buses, which will be smaller to medium-sized single-decker buses.
Ross said they will facilitate people in wheelchairs and disabled passengers will no longer have to register or queue in advance.
“They will be available and accessible at the bus stops,” he added.
In Budget 2018, a multi-annual allocation of almost €28 million for the accessibility retrofit programme for the period 2018 to 2021 was put in place, explained the minister.
The additional funding will facilitate the roll-out of accessible bus stops, the upgrading of train stations to make them accessible to wheelchair users and grants for more wheelchair accessible vehicles into the taxi fleet.
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Sure the funny thing is you think you’re Taoiseach already….
Enda Kenny pulled a master stroke by making Leo Varadkar minister for health…..
After the next election you’ll never work in politics again…
But you definitely will get a job in The Journal…
They Fecking love you….
Who’d want it now, that party is a busted flush!!
In 2010 after backing Richard Brutal for leader, Varadkar said it would be “very hypocritical” to take a spokesmanship job on the frontbench, under a man he had stood against (Kenny)
Didnt stop you taking a cabinet position under him though, did it Varadkar!
Leo the liar
Really getting great mileage out of that interview. The love affair continues.
Remember Leo even a turkey will fly in a hurricane,
He’ll be as relevant as Micky Martin
But Leo.
After the next general election, FG will be no more.
Leo couldn’t possibly answer a question about leadership ambition with the truth – besides the point that I don’t think he knows how not to tell porkies,
Stop trying to get us to like this clown.
Quick question, who are all these people that are linking Leo’s name to leadership of FG, no-one I know is?
I am.
That’s good Tap
They can all go down the same plughole.
I wonder what he is like as a doctor and would he be better off if he went back into that profession?
Some people like him others don’t, and maybe it would be better if he cut his losses while he is ahead. God knows there are enough young people wasting away doing things that are so far removed from the jobs they trained for. Many are lucky to even have a job because of this government’s arrogance and indifference to youth unemployment.
The economy is recovering. Taxes are reducing. Nice!
Okay Powerabbey where to start….
where to start….
So the government gave people e5 in the budget per week regardless of income to families then takes away e3-4 of that in water charges. While people on 100k or more got e700 of a cut plus this e5 on a children’s allowance payment from the social welfare. Yes the highest in society are claiming social welfare payments………….but thank you Jesus and all of the above (if you believe in that sort of thing, I do, many do not) for the e1 per week pocket money for all the plebs….
I’ll vote for the first party to come out and say that IW is being scrapped immediately..simple as that..
He won’t have a f****** job in the new year. the irish people are going to drop kick Enda Kenny through the goalposts of life. And i phone Joan will be on the touchline
Michael Martin current leader of Fianna Fáil, in spite of the comments of Fine Gael and Sinn Fein supporters on here, will be the next Taoiseach of this country of ours and he will lead this lovely country onto new prosperity and better living.
Gerrymiah wtf…… What’s Martin going to do different??? All plans water charges etc was agreed under the previous government with him, country is on the road to recovery… Europe controls is doesn’t matter wanta muppet in charge…. Don’t forget Fianna Fáil ruined this country had the people a short term memory????
Forget to take your medication this morning Jer.
gerry
You’re not fully awake yet lad, give it time you will come around, too much christmas pudding, fruit cocktail, pina coladas, and of course the one for the road, get plenty of water into you, then reassess you’re comment.
That is probably true as the electorate here have short memories. The electoral cycle goes: FF get into government, but then wreck the economy by buying elections, people then get fed up and put FG in to clean up the mess. When that is done, then FG gets turfed out of office on to the opposition benches with FF returned to power to wreck the economy again and they then get thrown out for FG to clean up the mess again, etc , etc
You ok Gerry? I do worry…..
Who gives a flying fcuk what this dipstick wants?
That’s what Frank Underwood said & look where it got him…
“Personal ambition is the last thing on my mind” Ha. Who are you trying to fool Leo?
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