Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2012
614. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health if he will provide by year for 2009, 2010, 2011 and to date in 2012, the cost of the motorised transport grant if the recommendations of the Ombudsman's report of 22 November 2012 were to have been adopted. [56466/12]
View answerThe Department accepts that significant issues have been raised by the Ombudsman in relation to the Motorised Transport Grant, the Mobility Allowance and the Equal Status Acts in relation to age limits and the definition of disability. The Department’s policy objective remains to ensure that all schemes meet the requirements of the Equal Status Acts while endeavouring to make sure that those who currently receive the grant, and rely on it, are protected as far as possible.
The Ombudsman recommended that the Department should revise the definition of disability in the circular governing the Motorised Transport Grant having regard to the broad definition of disability set out in the Equal Status Acts.
To be eligible for the Motorised Transport Grant an applicant must have a severe functional disability such as an inability to walk. The Ombudsman recommends that this definition be expanded to include a very broad definition of disability which is contained in the Equal Status Acts which encompasses all conditions that can amount to a disability.
There are a lot of difficulties in estimating the possible costs of expanding the definition of disability in the case of the Motorised Transport Grant. Accurate figures in relation to the number of people covered by the definition of disability in the Equal Status Acts and the numbers who would fail the means test are very difficult to ascertain. However, the expansion of the definition of disability has the potential to result in a colossal exponential increase in the cost of the grant to the HSE. The Central Statistics Office in its publication in November 2012 "Census 2011 - Profile 8 - Our Bill of Health" identified 542,277 people aged 15 and over with a disability of which 112,502 were at work.
The Motorised Transport Grant is a Health Service Executive payment to enable a person with a severe disability to purchase or adapt a car where that car is essential to retain employment. The maximum grant is €5,020 every three years. Over 300 people receive the grant each year.
Having regard to the possible number of people that would become eligible for the grant should the definition of disability be expanded as recommended by the Ombudsman, the Department is now considering the overall position of the Motorised Transport Grant. Expansion of the definition would impose serious financial constraints on the Department, the HSE and the State generally. The recommendations, if implemented as outlined, would create liabilities that the State could not afford.
Therefore, while it is difficult to predict, taking the various factors into account, the possible additional cost could, at least, be in excess of €200m.
