Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-24
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I fully agree with Deputy Ward. I thank him for raising what is an incredibly important issue. I see it in my community and, of course, he also sees it in his, probably most particularly on the DART line. Not to justify it, but this has certainly arisen as a result of a huge disparity in facilities at stations and access points across the country, particularly in the context of the many stations that were designed and built in the Victorian era.
We are absolutely committed to improving accessibility. There has been some clear and tangible progress. Last year, Irish Rail reduced the advanced notice requirement to just one hour at 15 of the busiest stations across the network, covering almost all terminus stations and the majority of assistance requests. There is a specific action in the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. Irish Rail is set to introduce a new passenger assistance management system across the rail network for customers requiring assistance, including those with disabilities, by the end of this year. Briefly, another good example is the new infrastructure, as the Deputy rightly referenced, namely the DART+ fleet, which will arrive next year. Each carriage will have an automatic sliding doorstep that will deploy every time the doors open. This will reduce the platform gap. The Deputy is so right to highlight this, and we should pursue it until it is fully resolved.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-24