Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 9 Feb 1995

Vol. 448 No. 8

Adjournment Debate. - Irish Wheelchair Association Driving School.

Mr. T. Kitt

I thank the Minister for coming into the House to answer my query on an issue relating to the Irish Wheelchair Association. As the Minister is aware, the Irish Wheelchair Association has been providing driver assessment and tuition to people with a physical disability since 1968. The service is currently operating with one full-time instructor in each provincial region, supported by a secretarial service in the Dublin office. During the past two years, the IWA has sought a partnership in Northern Ireland where its sister organisation, Disability Action, is funded through the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland and through a series of statutory supports.

The objective of the IWA is to develop and modernise, on a 32 county basis, co-operating and working closely with Disability Action. It has great difficulty, however, in getting any Government Department to take responsibility for the service and I hope the Minister will address this problem. I understand members of the IWA met the Minister for Equality and Law Reform in November 1994 who gave assurances that he would decide who was responsible for this area. The reply to date has been negative.

The Irish Wheelchair Association wants a specific Government Department to take responsibility for its service and adequate funding to continue the service and allow it develop on a 32 county basis. I am aware that the Eastern Health Board pays a block grant of £10,000 to the IWA driving school and some other health boards pay individual contributions of £452 for what they call certain categories of people who pass a driving test.

The IWA has already decided it cannot continue to fund the service after 1 April this year. The reason I raise this matter is that I was contacted by a constituent of mine who informed me that the driving school at Blackheath Drive, attended by one of his sons, will soon be closed unless funding can be provided. A large percentage of those using the service are in the lowest income level and cannot afford to pay for lessons. For some of the more than 30 lessons would be people more than 30 lessons would be required, whereas in the able-bodied world an average of eight to ten lessons would suffice.

To allow this school to close would be a severe blow to the independence of the disabled. This is an important service and it is vital that the independence of the disabled be recognised and promoted. I appeal to the Minister to respond positively to the request for immediate assistance.

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan,

Limerick East): I am aware of the difficulties the Irish Wheelchair Association is experiencing in funding its driving assessment/instruction course at its headquarters in Clontarf. This matter was raised by the association during a meeting with me two weeks ago. I understand that a friend of Deputy Kitt's was a member of that delegation.

Public funding for the Irish Wheelchair Association is provided through the health boards for services such as the home care attendants scheme and respite care. Last year, this funding amounted to nearly £760,000.

A national driving assessment/ instruction service is provided from the association's driving school in Clontarf to people in their local communities and on site to patients in the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dún Laoghaire. The association does not charge for this service.

The cost of running the driving assessment/instruction course was approximately £100,000 in 1994, of which more than £20,000 was provided by the health boards. Health boards funding for the course is provided on a capitation basis in respect of candidates who pass the regular driving test following completion of the course and who meet certain qualifying criteria. The grant is increased each year in line with budgetary increases.

Since it was set up in the late 1960s the demand for the course has been considerable and continues to be so. The Government is anxious that this service, which enables people with mobility disabilities to integrate more fully in social and economic life, should continue to be provided.

When I met the association recently, I undertook to explore the possibility of further additional funding and I am currently in discussions on the matter with my colleague, Deputy Howlin, Minister for the Environment. As the Department of the Environment is responsible for driver testing generally, there may be some scope within that Department to provide additional help.

Also, the Deputy will be pleased to learn that since meeting the Irish Wheelchair Association, I have, as promised, made arrangements for the National Rehabilitation Hospital to recoup the association for the cost of providing driving assessment and instruction to clients at the hospital. That money will supplement the resources this year.

Finally, the Deputy may wish to note that the Disabled Drivers Association of Ireland also provides a driving instruction course for people with disabilities which is based in Ballindine, County Mayo.