Gay Mitchell
Question:131 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will direct that a taxi facility be paid for or made available to a person, details supplied, in Dublin 12. [19407/01]
Written Answers. - Services for People with Disabilities.
The mobility allowance, which is a monthly payment administered by the health boards, provides financial support for people with a severe disability who are unable to walk or use public transport and is intended to enable them to benefit from a change in surroundings – for example, by financing the occasional taxi journey. The rate of the allowance has been increased to a maximum of £90 per month from 1 April 2001. People benefiting from both the mobility allowance and the disabled driver's and disabled passengers (tax concessions) scheme can retain the mobility allowance at the former rate of up to a maximum of £45.60 per month. To be eligible to receive mobility allowance, applicants must satisfy the following conditions: be over 16 years and under 66 years, be living at home or maintained by a health board in any long-term institution, be unable to walk, even with the use of artificial limbs or other suitable aids, or must be in such a condition of health that the exertion required to walk would be dangerous, inability to walk has to be likely to persist for at least one year, moving of the applicant must not have been forbidden for medical reasons, be in a condition to benefit from a change in surroundings.
It is a matter for the senior area medical officer in the relevant health board to decide whether the medical criteria are satisfied in each case. Applicants must undergo a means test to decide eligibility. Further information about mobility allowance, including an application form, can be obtained from the Eastern Regional Health Authority, Community Care Area 4, Old County Road, Dublin 12.
Furthermore, I would like to draw the Deputy's attention to the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax concessions) Regulations, 1994, which were drawn up by the Minister for Finance and come under the remit of the Revenue Commissioners. Persons with a severe and permanent disability who use a specially adapted motor vehicle as drivers or passengers, and who meet the prescribed conditions, are entitled to claim the following; exemptions from motor tax and refund-exemption from vehicle registration tax, refund of VAT, refund of duty paid on petrol-diesel, subject to a maximum of 600 gallons per year.
To qualify, a person must meet the medical criteria specified in the above regulations. The senior area medical officer for the relevant health board area will issue a primary medical certificate if he or she is satisfied that the applicant fulfils the medical criteria set out in the Department of Finance's Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations.
Further information about the scheme can be obtained from the Disabled Drivers Section, Office of the Revenue Commissioners, Coolshanagh, Monaghan, County Monaghan, telephone No: 047-82800.