24 hours notice for bus travel Call for action at Old Mill ‘blight on area’
Fiona MAGENNIS A TD has hit out at what she describes as a ‘scandalous lack of services’ for people with disabilities after it was revealed one local man must give 24 hours notice to use the local bus service.
Deputy Imelda Munster highlighted the case of one man who relies on the 190 bus route between Laytown and Drogheda but must give a full day’s advance notice if he wishes to use the service to ensure a suitable bus is on the rote.
‘He has been asked to justify his reasons for travelling by a bus-driver, and has been left on the side of the road on occasion, due to the lack of services to facilitate travel for people with disabilities,’ she said.
The Minister went on to question the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross on what she described as a ‘scandalous’ lack of services for people with disabilities.
‘Is the Minister aware that one in four people with a disability do not use public transport for accessibility reasons?’ she said.
Is he also aware that most rail and bus services require 24 hours’ notice in advance of travel for a wheelchair user in order to provide the service? In what other country would that be an acceptable situation in the year 2016?’
She also questioned what plans Minister Ross has to address this issue and said he could really make a difference if he chose to do so. ‘No one should have to accept treatment like this. It is outrageous to expect people to go through this rigmarole every time they want to take a bus. This is blatant discrimination against people with disabilities,’ she added.
Minister Ross that he would raise the matter with the Minister for Disability Issues Finian McGrath TD and that he would contact the NTA to seek further clarity on plans to resolve issues on the 190 bus route. A local man wants the community to come together to see action on what he describes as a ‘ blight on the landscape’ of the pretty village of Julianstown. ROY Bowers, who has lived in the village for 32 years, says enough is enough and something must be done about the site of the Old Mill Hotel, which has been derelict for more than a decade and has previously been used as a dumping ground for domestic rubbish. ‘WE have a beautiful village but it is being spoiled by this blot on the landscape,’ said Roy. ‘It’s been ten years since the fire and nothing has changed. We need action on this site, it is such an eyesore.’ ROY went on to say there had previously been talk of plans to develop the site, possibly into a nursing home, but there is no planning permission for the site at present. ‘ THE committee here in Julianstown work so hard getting it nice and doing so much to and for the village but there is nothing you can do about this terrible state,’ said Roy. ‘IT’S a real shame that it is in such a prominent area. Imagine someone coming through Julianstown from Dublin for whatever reason. It’s such a shame that the hotel has been left to go to wrack and ruin.’