The Department today published its Sectoral Plan for Accessible Transport under the Disability Act 2005. This document sets out the proposals of the Minister for Transport and the agencies under his aegis in relation to the rolling out over the next number of years of a comprehensive programme of accessible transport for people with mobility, sensory and cognitive impairments, together with older people. The Plan covers accessibility matters relating to bus, rail, light rail, rural transport services, taxi and hackney services, air and marine travel as well as parking facilities for motorists with disabilities. The Sectoral Plan will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas by 28 July 2006.

A copy of the Plan is attached in MS Word and HTML formats. Alternative formats such as Braille, Audio, Easy-to-Read and Plain English are currently being prepared and copies can be made available in due course by contacting Mr John Mount, Public Transport Planning Division, Department of Transport, 44 Kildare Street, Dublin 2 - Tel: (01) 6041271, Fax: (01) 6041688 or e-mail johnmount@transport.ie.

An Irish Language version of the Plan is also being prepared and copies will be available in the near future. When finalised, the Irish Language version of the Plan will also be placed on the Department's website in MS Word and HTML formats.