Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 September 2004
776 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will give the maximum advice and assistance to a person (details supplied) in order to get their car wheelchair accessible and to work with the health board on ensuring funding for this priority case. [21558/04]
View answerA health board may pay a grant towards the purchase of a car and-or adaptations to a car being purchased by a person with a severe disability who is 17 years or older and up to 65 years of age. The car must be essential for him/her to obtain or retain employment. The applicant must have a severe disability and the disability must impede him/her from using public transport.
Applications may also be considered in the cases of persons with severe disabilities, who are incapable of managing the controls of a car, or where on medical opinion it is inadvisable for them to drive, and therefore they must be driven to and from work. Consideration might be given for the purpose of the scheme to award a grant for the purchase of a car in the name of the person with the disability subject to the understanding that he/she will be driven by another person, whose name will be notified to the health board, to and from his/her place of employment.
The assessment of and entitlement to the motorised transport grant including an appeal in any individual case is a matter for the relevant health board. Therefore, applications for this grant should be made directly to the relevant health board. The applicant may also be eligible for assistance through the aids and appliances budget. In this regard, they should contact the East Coast Area Health Board for details.
