Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 March 2014
49. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Finance when an appropriate replacement scheme will be put in place for the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme; the conditions and eligibility criteria attached to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14628/14]
View answerThe Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme is open to people with disabilities who meet the specified criteria contained in Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations, 1994 (S.I. 353 of 1994), and have obtained a Primary Medical Certificate to that effect. The scheme provides relief from value-added tax (VAT) and vehicle registration tax (VRT), up to a certain limit, on the purchase of a motor vehicle adapted for the transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities. An exemption from payment of annual motor tax in respect of a vehicle that qualifies under the scheme and a relief from excise on the fuel used in the vehicle are also provided under the scheme.
Following a ruling by the European Court of Justice in April 2013, the excise relief on the fuel element of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers scheme will be discontinued on the 31st December 2014. A new fuel grant scheme will be put in place before the relief ends and there will be a seamless transition between the two schemes. Members of the current scheme will not be at a loss. Arrangements will be made during the year to provide for the new fuel grant scheme for disabled drivers which will have the same levels of support as the current excise relief scheme.
The other elements of the scheme, which include the relief from VRT and VAT, and the exemption from annual motor tax, will remain in place and are unaffected by the ruling.
