Lack of wheelchair taxis in Mayo highlighted in Rehab survey

A public affairs researcher with the Rehab Group has cited the lack of wheelchair taxis in Mayo as an issue urgently in need of addressing.

Padraig Hannafin, a wheelchair user since 1999, outlined a number of lived experiences to an Oireachtas committee that explained why transport accessibility is not an abstract policy matter but a daily fundamental barrier for disabled people.

He stated: "On 23 September last, I travelled from Cork to Dublin with a personal assistant to help launch the Rehab Group’s pre-budget submission in Leinster House.

"On arrival at Heuston Station, the wheelchair-accessible taxi I had pre-booked informed me that his ramp was broken and cancelled my journey.

"A second driver arrived shortly afterwards, rolled down his window and said that his ramp was not working either.

"When the third taxi eventually came, my personal assistant and I had to show the driver how to reconfigure his own vehicle so that my not unusually large wheelchair could fit in. I was scheduled to speak first that day but I barely managed to speak second last.

"I wish this was a rare exception but it is not. I have waited in the rain because a bus already had one wheelchair user onboard.

"I have entered taxis whose ramps were so short and steep, they were unsafe. On my last train journey, the ramp was so steep that my wheelchair’s safety feature engaged to stop it tipping backwards.

"My nursing team can always tell when I have been abroad because I return with bruised knees from the inadequate, undignified transfer onto an airplane seat.

"If you want to see dignity stripped away from a person, watch a disabled passenger getting to his or her seat on an airplane.

"During Covid, many people struggled with a 5 km travel restriction. For many disabled people, this is normal life. I am fortunate to own an accessible van.

"Without it, I would be permanently locked down. I would be unable to afford taxis and unable to reach the nearest bus stop 500 metres away because the route involves rural roads without footpaths and with fast-moving traffic.

"These are only some of my experiences but sadly they are not unique to me.

"Through my role in the Rehab Group, I hear similar stories every day.

"In a recent survey of 600 service users across 90 focus groups within Rehab, 53% said they were dissatisfied with transport services.

"This is especially stark because when asked which service they could not live without, the majority answered transport.

"The people who use Rehab services are striving to enhance their lives through education, employment and community participation. Transport links these opportunities together.

"A person cannot access education if he or she cannot reach his or her college.

"A person cannot get a job if he or she cannot reach an interview and he or she certainly cannot keep a job if his or her transport options repeatedly fail.

"I want to bring in the voices of some Rehab service users.

"One said: "I have no rural transport. I depend on my sister to buy the groceries for me and my mam every Friday, as taxis are too expensive."

"Another said: "My mam has to drop me to the bus stop because it’s too dangerous to walk, we need safer footpaths."

"Another said: "Ringing the train ahead to book the ramp is not easy, you really have to plan in advance you can’t just decide to go."

"Another said: "There is only one wheelchair-accessible taxi in Castlebar, and it only operates Tuesday to Saturday. There are no options the other two days of the week."

"Disabled people are disabled by the inaccessibility of the world around us.

"To create equal access, we need: more accessible buses, especially in rural areas, that can accommodate more than one wheelchair user; to upgrade and maintain infrastructure ramps, lifts, stations and ensure mandatory disability awareness training for drivers; travel vouchers or taxi subsidies for people on disability payments or low incomes to ensure transport is affordable when public transport is not an option; representation of disabled service users on local transport committees; and regular user surveys and continuous updates to services based on lived experience.

"Transport is not a luxury. It is the foundation for independence, dignity, and equal participation in society."