Vol. 470 No. 8
60 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Finance his views on whether a person without one arm should qualify for a medical certificate under the Disabled Drivers Regulations, 1994; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20147/96]
65 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Finance if he will amend section 92 of the Finance Act, 1989, to ensure that a person without one hand or one arm would be eligible on medical grounds to qualify for tax concessions under the Disabled Drivers Regulations, 1994. [20154/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 60 and 65 together.
The medical criteria which must be met in order that a disabled person can qualify for tax relief are set out in Regulation 3 of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations, 1994. Six different types of disability are listed and a qualifying person must meet at least one of them. The disabilities relating to hands and arms include: persons without both hands or without both arms, persons wholly or almost wholly without the use of both hands or arms and wholly or almost wholly without the use of one leg.
On that basis, only those who satisfy these conditions with regard to hand and arm disabilities would qualify medically for entry into the scheme.
These regulations were drawn up after consultation with a range of interested parties including organisations representing the disabled. The purpose of the disabled drivers scheme is to target what are costly reliefs on those clearly severely and permanently disabled. There will always be difficulties in defining these categories in a satisfactory manner without opening the scheme too widely. The scheme is kept under periodic review and the Deputy's request will be taken into account in that regard.
