Vol. 515 No. 1
178 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if it is appropriate that the Irish Wheelchair Association charges a £5 administration fee for the issuing of disabled parking discs to disabled persons while no fee is charged by the Disabled Drivers Association; and the funding, if any, the Government provides to each association for the distribution of these discs. [5358/00]
The Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations, 1997, empower local authorities, the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Disabled Drivers Association, to grant disabled person's parking permits to a disabled person who is suffering from a disability that prevents that person from walking or causes undue hardship to the person in walking.
My Department has recently been advised that the Irish Wheelchair Association has introduced an administrative charge to applicants for these permits. The Department is taking this matter up with the association. While no funding is currently provided by my Department for the administration of this scheme, grants of £5,000 each were made available to the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Disabled Drivers Association in 1998 to assist in meeting the start-up costs associated with their involvement in the scheme.
