I wish to thank the Chair for selecting this subject for discussion. I apologise to the Chair, the Minister and the House for misunderstanding my time slot and delaying the House. This issue concerns a man who is physically and mentally capable, a fit and accident free driver who has no blemish on his driving licence to date and who has had experience of driving. The father of a young family he could not always afford a car and only recently sat his driving test. It was the toss of a coin as to whether he was tested in a manual or automatic car, such was the extent of his disability, which is hardly noticeable.
One of this man's arms is disabled as a result of polio as a child. He is now very fit and capable of driving a manual car without being a danger to himself or anyone else. People with illnesses are allowed to drive manual cars. When I raised this matter in the House many years ago the former Minister, Padraig Flynn, was very helpful in changing the regulation in that regard.
I do not often raise matters on the Adjournment but an injustice is being done to this man and there was a certain element of subjectivity in making the decision. I ask the Minister to reverse this decision or at the very least refer it to an independent party or authority to rule on it. It appears the decision as to whether a manual driving test is allowed is made by people who are not qualified to certify whether a person has a disability.
People with greater disabilities than the one from which this man suffers experience no difficulty in driving manual cars. This man simply cannot afford the extra cost of an automatic car. He is not a man of means and the market for second-hand automatic cars is very limited. On principle, whether this person could afford such a car and the additional expenses of servicing it, he should not have been denied the opportunity to undertake a manual driving test. I hope the Minister will intervene to allow this man, and people with mild disabilities, to take the full driving test.
