Louth Fianna Fáil Senator Erin McGreehan has called for urgent action by the Government on improving personal transport supports for people with disabilities.
Senator McGreehan, speaking after the publishing of a report by ombudsman Peter Tyndall, which stated that personal transport supports for people with disabilities are inadequate, unfair and inequitable, commented, “The time is now up on inaction. The Government has to make positive changes to make this country more accessible for all our citizens.
“Since getting into politics I have been raising these issues repeatedly and I have never received an adequate response from any government department or local authority.
“Best intentions to make things better are of no use to the thousands of citizens barred from accessing all the country has to offer.”
The Fianna Fáil Senator added: “If a person has no access to transport they are ‘grounded’ as the report’s title highlights. They cannot access medical care, employment, basic social enjoyment and they are essentially barred from life. This is absolutely unacceptable.”
In the Ombudsman’s report, ‘Grounded: Unequal access for people with disabilities to personal transport schemes’ he stated that both he and his predecessors received many complaints about three schemes - the Motorised Transport Grant, the Mobility Allowance, and the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers scheme.
