Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 June 2023
341. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Finance if the comprehensive review of the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme, committed to by his predecessor and agreed to be undertaken with a wider review under the National Disability Inclusion Strategy, has commenced; if so, when the review will be complete; if not, when it is due to commence; and when findings of the review of the DDS scheme will be available. [27103/23]
View answerThe National Disability Inclusion Strategy Transport Working Group (TWG), comprising members from a range of Departments, agencies and Disabled Persons Organisations, was tasked under Action 104 to review all Government-funded transport and mobility supports for those with a disability, including the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme (DDS). The NDIS TWG final report was published on 24th February 2023 and concludes that the DDS should replaced with a needs-based, grant-aided vehicular adaptation scheme, i.e. to provide direct financial assistance to individuals needing vehicle adaptations according to their needs, to meet their personal transport requirements and ultimately to facilitate independence and participation in society.
The NDIS TWG final report noted both the outdated approach of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme and the fact that the scheme needed to be addressed as a matter of priority. The Working Group agreed that proposals in this regard was a clear deliverable on which work could begin in the relatively near future.
The reason that DDS is considered outdated is that it is based on a 1960s based ‘in-or-out’, medically-based policy rationale. It does not meet the needs of a significant group of those with a disability and with mobility impairments; it requires individuals to 'prove' they are sufficiently 'disabled' and any expansion of eligibility criteria will still mean some individuals will not meet the criteria. The DDS administrative and operational model is not and will never be fit-for-purpose in meeting the standards expected of a modern scheme. The DDS is significantly divergent from international best practice on almost all scheme parameters,.
Research carried out by the Department of Finance Criteria Sub-Group as part of its contribution to the NDIS TWG established that Ireland is the only one of 32 examples that has a Department of Finance solely responsible for the scheme and the only country to rely solely on a lump sum tax relief for its vehicle-related provisions. It also confirmed that Ireland is the only country to provide life-long provisions and with the shortest vehicle retention period, i.e. provisions can be renewed every two years. In addition, its research indicated that only Ireland and Australia rely solely on a medical assessment for accessing vehicle-related provisions. Unlike most other countries’ provisions, the DDS has minimal controls for receipt of provisions, creating considerable scope for maximisation and on some occasions misuse of provisions. In short, the DDS has effectively become a vehicle purchase, not a vehicle adaptation, scheme.
Since the 1960s, the DDS has been subject to a series of very limited and disparate ad-hoc changes which have added layer upon layer of administrative complication, and which have done nothing to assist a considerable number of those with mobility issues. Making further changes to the DDS to widen its scope is not feasible or credible when considered in this context.
Consequently, I believe it is imperative to design and implement a new needs-based, grant-aided vehicular adaptation scheme to replace the DDS. If put in place, this will provide one targeted solution to personal transport for those that need vehicular adaptations to improve their functional ability. This is a matter for the Government to decide.
