Opening Statement from the Ombudsman, Mr Peter Tyndall, on “Grounded: unequal access for people with disabilities to personal transport schemes”

Cathaoirleach and members of the Committee, thank you for the invitation to come here today to discuss my recently published commentary report titled “Grounded: unequal access for people with disabilities to personal transport schemes”. 

I had the opportunity of meeting this Committee in June of this year to discuss the Wasted Lives report, which as you are aware was in relation to the inappropriate placement of people under 65 in nursing homes.  I was delighted at the coverage this report received and the opportunity it gave me to highlight the serious and systemic issues that unfairly impacted, and continue to impact on, people under 65 living with a disability in nursing homes. I had thought that would be my last appearance with this Committee before I finished my tenure as Ombudsman.  However, I am happy that this did not prove to be the case.  I am glad to have the opportunity to discuss the issue of unequal access to personal transport supports for people living with a disability.

UNCRPD

As Committee members will know, the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2017 provided a legal basis for people with disabilities to have the right to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life. Lack of access to transport is one of the key barriers to stopping the realisation of these fundamental rights and can lead to the further economic, social, and personal isolation of people living with a disability. The opposite is also true and access to transport for many people can be an equaliser, changing the lives of persons with disabilities for the better.

Article 9 of the UNCRPD is focused on accessibility and puts an onus on signatures to provide equal access to transportation to people living with a disability in order to support them to participate equally in daily life, for example, to access further education, gain employment, be involved in their community or participate in social activities and hobbies.

In Ireland the National Disability Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021 sets the overall framework for the equal participation of people with disabilities in society. Under the Strategy, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has responsibility for the continued development and availability of accessible public transport.  I warmly welcome all the necessary work that has been undertaken in this area. However, in my opinion this, by itself, it not enough to meet our commitments under the UNCRPD.

For some people living with a disability, public transport may not be the most appropriate or even a possible mode of daily transport. For example, the inadequacy of access to some public transport facilities such as the DART, is a matter of great concern to disabled people who use it.  Many journeys on public transport also require the use of different services which means that any problem occurring with one of the services, makes the whole journey impossible. Fear of personal safety on public transport is also an issue for some.

Therefore, while improving access to public transport is an important issue in its own right, it is unreasonable to suggest that it can address the transport needs of many disabled people, who may live in rural areas, or struggle to get to bus stops or stations.  In such circumstances a car provides optimum mobility for many people living with a disability who see it as the key to their quality of life. However, often they may need to be supported to access their own personal transport whether that be through an adapted car for themselves to drive or within their household as a passenger. 

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La reunión ha querido debatir sobre las medidas necesarias que permitan el acceso a los suministros básicos de todas las personas a un precio asequible
 

El miércoles día 15 de diciembre tuvo lugar en la sede del Síndic la reunión general de la Red Europea de Defensores de la Energía, NEON, cuyo objetivo principal es intercambiar y profundizar en la gestión y la resolución de las quejas en materia energética y de servicios, y también convertirse en un mecanismo de seguimiento y presión ante los organismos reguladores.

La reunión ha centrado su atención tanto en cuestiones internas de la red como externas, como las acciones tomadas por los Estados miembros para hacer frente al aumento de los precios de la energía. El pasado 22 de septiembre, el síndic se reunió con Eric Houtman, ombudsman federal de la energía de Bélgica y miembro de la NEON, para abordar el incremento del precio de la energía eléctrica en España y en Europa. El precio de la electricidad en los mercados mayoristas está ligado a la cotización del gas natural y del CO2 en los mercados internacionales, y el precio del gas se ha incrementado un 250% desde febrero de 2021. Las previsiones apuntan a que seguirá aumentando al menos hasta marzo de 2022. En este contexto, el  Síndic propuso la necesidad de realizar una declaración conjunta de todos los miembros de la NEON para pedir que la Unión Europea adopte las medidas necesarias que permitan el acceso a los suministros básicos de todas las personas a un precio asequible.

En la reunión de Barcelona, ​​que tuvo formato híbrido, presencial y telemático, participó Janusz Gwiazdowski (Polonia), Roberto Malaman (Italia). El resto de miembros asistentes han sido Eric Houtman, del Servicio de Mediación de la Energía (Bélgica), Matt Vickers, (Reino Unido), Tara O'beirne (CRU, Irlanda), Salome Vardiashvili (Georgia) y Liana Cozigou (Valònia, Bélgica).

NEON es la red europea de servicios independientes, sin ánimo de lucro, de resolución de conflictos y defensores en el sector energético. El objetivo principal es el trabajo para garantizar los derechos de todas las personas consumidoras, incluidas las más vulnerables, a través de organismos independientes de resolución de quejas. Así, se promueve un modelo específico de resolución alternativa de conflictos (ADR), basado en servicios ADR independientes, nacionales y regionales, que defiendan el interés general y los derechos de todas las personas consumidoras. La red facilita el intercambio de información, experiencia y buenas prácticas entre sus miembros.

El Síndic de Greuges de Catalunya es miembro de pleno derecho desde 2012, y esta es la cuarta vez que acoge una reunión de la red en Barcelona.

In 2020, the Petitions Committee received a record number of petitions, with health and fundamental rights the most common topics in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted a report on the deliberations of the Committee on Petitions in 2020 with 679 votes in favour, 4 against, and 7 abstentions. In the annual report, MEPs give an overview of their committee activities, including statistics on received petitions and assessments of other parliamentary activities such as resolutions, reports, hearings, workshops and fact-finding visits.

Health and citizens’ rights issues in focus

In the context of a public health emergency that led to lockdowns and other restrictions, the most frequent topics of petitions were fundamental rights (268 petitions, 11 % of total) and health (221 petitions, 9 %), followed by environmental issues (200 petitions, 8 %). Among the rights issues mentioned were pandemic restrictions, the freedom of movement, the right to work, the right to information and the right to education, whereas the health petitions highlighted concerns over public health and its protection, among other things. To respond to citizens’ concerns, the Petitions Committee decided to prioritize COVID-19-related petitions, and treated them using its urgency procedure.

Resolutions and fact-finding visits

The committee tabled five motions for resolutions in 2020, all of which were adopted by the Parliament plenary. Three resolutions were related to COVID-19 or its consequences: for example, a resolution on the rights of persons with intellectual disabilities in the COVID-19 crisis, which continued the Committee’s work protecting disability rights in the EU based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Another well-received resolution from 2020 highlighted the need to fund more research on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, and raise awareness about it with more training.

In February 2020, the Committee concluded a fact-finding visit to Bulgaria, investigating allegedly unfair contract terms of mortgage loans. Due to the pandemic, the Committee had to postpone several other planned visits.

Relations with other EU bodies

MEPs find that the Petitions Committee has co-operated well with the European Ombudsman, who has regularly contributed to its work. The Committee also maintains a good working relationship with the European Commission, but MEPs wish that the Commission would provide more precise replies to petitioners, and generally take a more active role in its treatment of petitions. The Parliament urges the Commission to provide them with more information about infringement procedures and pilot projects, and to follow up on compliance issues raised in petitions.

More generally, MEPs ask for more transparency and better access to documents of the EU institutions, and a reform of the public access regulation, which they consider outdated. As for member states, the MEPs wish that they would participate more actively in the work of the Committee on Petitions. They hope that the Conference on the Future of Europe could also be used to inform citizens about the EU petitions process, and to encourage them to participate.

Background

In 2020, the European Parliament received a total of 1 573 petitions, representing an increase of 16 % compared to 2019. The majority of these (80 %) were submitted through the Petitions Web Portal.

The right to petition the European Parliament on matters of the Union’s fields of activity is one of the fundamental rights of EU citizens (Art 277 TEU). It offers citizens an open, democratic and transparent mechanism to directly address their elected representatives. Each year, the Committee on Petitions gives a comprehensive overview its work, including statistics on received petitions and assessments of other parliamentary activities such as adoption of reports, organisation of hearings and relations with other EU institutions.