Michael Healy-Rae
Question:114. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 110 of 21 June 2016, the status of the application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19250/16]
View answerTuesday, 5 July 2016
Questions (114)
Written answers
As the Deputy is aware, the initial assessment for a Primary Medical Certificate takes place in the local HSE office of an applicant, where a professional clinical determination is made by the Senior Medical Officer of that HSE administrative area.
For those who wish to appeal the decision of their local Senior Medical Officer at their local HSE office, they must then attend an appointment with the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dublin. Hearings of the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal are held on average twice a month at the National Rehabilitation Hospital, which has the facilities to cater for people with mobility impairing disabilities of the kind provided for under the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme. Appellants may also attend the Board at one of its regional sittings. I'm informed that one clinic per year, for the past four years, has been held in Cork City. A regional clinic is scheduled for September this year in the Mercy University Hospital, Cork City.
A panel of doctors on the Board of Appeal make clinical assessments as part of this appeals process. Appeals must be completed in the appropriate clinical environment, and cannot be undertaken in appellants' homes.
Regulation 6(1)(e) of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concession) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 353 of 1994) mandates that the Medical Board of Appeal is independent in the exercise of its functions, and I cannot intervene in individual appeals cases.