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Disability Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 February 2022

Tuesday, 22 February 2022

Questions (9)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

9. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the number of engagements he has had with the Ombudsman and Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal regarding the eligibility criteria under the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme since 2017; the actions he has taken following and in response to such engagements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10107/22]

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Oral answers (6 contributions)

For years, citizens with severe and permanent disabilities have been denied access to personal transport through the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme, a scheme the Minister has been responsible for since 2017. In October, the entire board of appeal resigned due to his inaction. This board assessed appeals from citizens who were rejected under the scheme. They resigned en masse. Will the Minister outline the engagements he had with the board, including the first engagement, and the actions he took to respond to each engagement and concern the board raised?

The disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme provides relief from VRT and VAT on the purchase and use of an adapted car, as well as an exemption from motor tax and an annual fuel grant.

There has been ongoing engagement between officials in my Department and both the Ombudsman and the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal since 2017 and I met with members of the board in March of last year. The ongoing engagement has reflected past and current issues surrounding the administration and oversight of the scheme such as the decision and implications of the recent Supreme Court case in June 2020; increases in the administrative burden and demand on the scheme arising from closures of other mobility schemes in the past decade; and concerns regarding eligibility criteria and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the assessment and appeals elements of the scheme.

The members of the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal wrote to me recently tendering their resignation from the board. My officials engaged with the Department of Health and the Public Appointments Service to seek expressions of interest from medical practitioners to participate in the board. I am informed that the notice seeking expressions of interest has been issued. It is hoped to move this process along as quickly as possible so that appeals can recommence as soon as possible.

I recently gave a commitment to the House that a comprehensive review of the scheme, to include a broader review of mobility supports, would be undertaken. I have been agreed with my colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, that the review should be brought within a wider review under the auspices of the national disability inclusion strategy, to examine transport supports encompassing all Government-funded transport and mobility schemes for people with disabilities.

The Minister has been responsible for this scheme since 2017. I asked him when the engagements happened. He said there were ongoing engagements in 2020. Was that the first time the board of appeal raised concerns with him? Can he indicate to the House the first time he was made aware that the members would not continue to operate this scheme because of its discriminatory nature or the concerns they had with it? What action did he take following his being alerted to that?

There have been severe consequences of inaction for many years in respect of this scheme. One of the last actions taken by the Ombudsman, Peter Tyndall, was to publish a report called Grounded which itemised how people with severe disabilities could not leave their homes and were unable to take up normal activities that the Minister and I take for granted because of the flaws in the scheme. We have had the new Ombudsman call it out and call on Opposition and Government Deputies to put on pressure to get this rectified. When was the Minister first alerted to the matter? When did the board members first raise concerns that they would not be able to operate the scheme any longer? What actions did the Minister take immediately following that?

As I said, my officials who have been in contact with the board regularly alerted me to the concerns the board had about the operation of the scheme. When I met members of the board last year, which I did via a video conference, they informed me that they had very significant concerns regarding the operation of the scheme. They emphasised what other bodies have already done, the need for action to be taken to deal with issues regarding the eligibility criteria of the scheme and the administration involved in the scheme. I gave commitments to them that I would act on that and aim to make progress. However, I clearly did not meet their expectations for progress. I very much regret that they have resigned from the board in the way that they have. I accept responsibility for it. I am well aware of the consequences of appeals not being processed speedily. I am going to do my best to try to get a board appointed and then to deal with the fundamental issues that have led to this point.

It is still not clear when the board first raised concerns about this. It appears the Minister has only met the board once in the five years he has held responsibility. Maybe he can clarify that. Forget about the board of appeals. Has the Ombudsman not been raising this directly with the Minister? The Ombudsman made clear that he wrote to the Minister for Finance and the Minister with responsibility for disability matters in 2017 repeating concerns about the eligibility criteria having a particularly narrow focus and being overly prescriptive. In January 2020, there was supposed to be a special Cabinet meeting on disability issues. There was correspondence to the Secretary General but no action. People with severe disabilities were found to be grounded and unable to get out of their homes. There was no action. The board of appeals, all medical professionals, resigned en masse because there was no action and the Minister, as he has said, did not meet their expectations. That is a terrible situation. As we speak, there are people out there whose appeals cannot be heard. These are children and adults with disabilities.

I am very much aware that there are adults and children, citizens of our State, who are already grappling with such need in their lives and are expecting there to be a speedy appeal process in place. Of course I am aware of the assessments that have been offered about this scheme for so long. As I said to the House a few moments ago, I very much regret that the board members who were operating the scheme that I was responsible for felt they had no option but to resign in the way they did. Through the Public Appointments Service, I aim to get a new board in place as soon as possible. In respect of the key issues that we need to make progress on, I will work closely with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to look at how we can resolve these matters as soon as we can. They are difficult issues. As I said twice already, I very much regret where we are now. I accept that we need to make faster progress on this matter given the views of those who were on the board and I will do my best to do that.

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