The Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme provides relief from Vehicle Registration Tax and VAT on the purchase of a specially adapted vehicle, a fuel grant related to the running costs of the vehicle and an exemption from Motor Tax to drivers and passengers with disabilities who fulfil the medical criteria required to qualify for the scheme. The Scheme and qualifying criteria were designed specifically for those with severe physical disabilities and are therefore necessarily precise.
The Scheme represents a significant tax expenditure. Between the Vehicle Registration Tax and VAT foregone, and the assistance with fuel costs used by members of the Scheme, based on provisional figures the Scheme represented a cost of €48.6 million to the Exchequer in 2014, an increase of €5.1 million on the 2013 cost. This figure does not include the revenue foregone to the Local Government Fund in respect of the relief from Motor Tax provided to members of the Scheme.
I recognise the important role that the Scheme plays in expanding the mobility of citizens with disabilities. However, in the still challenging fiscal environment and given the scale and scope of the Scheme, I have no plans to expand the medical criteria beyond those currently provided for in the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations 1994.
