Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 June 2023
83. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Finance when he will publish the revised criteria to qualify for the primary medical certificate which will be fit for purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30097/23]
View answer84. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Finance when the medical criteria to obtain a primary medical certificate in order to benefit from the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme are expected to be updated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30017/23]
View answerWhen will the new criteria for the primary medical certificate be published, in view of the fact that the existing scheme is unworkable? The appeals board resigned en bloc almost 18 months ago on the basis that it could not deal with appeals because the criteria were so strict. It is time that we looked at this and got it sorted for the people who really need it.
The Supreme Court struck down the criteria in August 2020 and, as Deputy Canney said, the appeals board stepped down 18 months ago. Enough is enough at some point. The Minister can convene all of the expert groups he wants but people lives are being affected by this and we need to move on it before the Dáil breaks up for the summer.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 84 together. I thank Deputies Canney and McNamara for their questions.
The disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme provides relief from vehicle registration tax, VRT, and value added tax, VAT, on the use of an adapted car, as well as an exemption from motor tax and an annual fuel grant. The scheme is open to severely and permanently disabled persons who also meet the medical criteria, as a driver or as a passenger, and also to certain organisations. In order to qualify for relief, the applicant must hold a primary medical certificate issued by the relevant senior area medical officer or a board medical certificate issued by the disabled driver medical board of appeal. Certain other qualifying criteria apply in relation to the vehicle, in particular that it must be specially constructed or adapted for use by the applicant.
To qualify for a primary medical certificate an applicant must be permanently and severely disabled and satisfy at least one of six medical criteria as set out in primary legislation, with which the Deputies are very familiar. The allowable limits of relief provided under the scheme vary by the nature of the primary medical certificate holder, that is whether he or she is a disabled driver or disabled passenger, as well as the type of adaptations undertaken.
As the Deputies may be aware, I have just introduced a fourth category of reliefs available for both disabled drivers and disabled passengers of €48,000 and €32,000 respectively, where adaptations as specified for wheelchair accessible vehicles are required. I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Ms Leigh Gath who, along with others, highlighted this particular issue. We were able to identify and bring forward a solution after work over recent months on that particular issue.
My predecessor, Deputy Donohoe, and the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, agreed in September 2021 that the disabled driver scheme should be incorporated into the work of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy transport working group.
It was tasked under action 104 with reviewing all Government-funded transport and mobility supports for those with a disability, including the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme. The final report, published back in February, indicated that the current scheme was outdated and should be replaced with a needs-based, grant-aided vehicular adaptation scheme. The proposed scheme could thus provide direct financial assistance to individuals requiring vehicle adaptations according to their needs in order to meet their personal transport requirements and, ultimately, facilitate independence and participation in society. The working group agreed that proposals in this regard were a clear deliverable on which work could begin in the immediate future.
I very much welcome the Taoiseach’s comments last week that he will convene all relevant Departments to develop meaningful proposals arising from the final report of the working group. I assure the Deputies that I and my officials will fully engage in that process and support the development of a new scheme that is fit for purpose and significantly modernised, one that meets the needs of disabled drivers and passengers who need additional help from the State in order to meet their transport needs.
I thank the Minister for his reply. As Deputy McNamara stated, there has been a lot of talk, engagement, discussion and public opinions put out by the Government but the Ombudsman, who has responsibility for complaints relating to people with disabilities, has stated that this has been ongoing for far too long. We need to get a scheme that is fit for purpose in place as quickly as possible. My concern is that people with disabilities are still grounded in their homes without transport supports. That is particularly the case in rural areas, where they have no supports at all and may not have transport. We want people to live independently. We want to ensure that everybody can live equally. I ask the Minister to provide a date by which this will be put in place.
We need to look at the backdrop to this. The Minister's predecessor, who is, in almost every regard, a thoroughly decent man, did something quite indecent, with the support of the House, in one of the budgets that was passed down in the convention centre. The Supreme Court struck down the statutory instruments as being far too restrictive. Basically, in order to comply with the parent Act, a person almost had to be missing a limb to qualify. It was far too restrictive. Instead of just passing a new statutory instrument and continuing the scheme, the then Minister changed the primary legislation to make that more restrictive and buried it in the detail of a vote on the budget. It was completely buried. I never heard it mentioned it in his speech or any other speech, yet it is now the law on which people are relying and it is what is precluding people from exercising their independence and mobility. The Minister, Deputy McGrath, was in the House when it was decided that the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation could be wound up overnight. At the time, he was on the Opposition benches while I was on the Government backbenches. It was a significant undertaking but it was done overnight because that is what was needed. Are we, as a Legislature, and he, as a Minister, saying this issue is not so urgent that it can be done before the end of the year? People have waited long enough.
This is urgent. The existing scheme dates back several decades. It is outdated. The terminology is outdated. It is not fit for purpose and we urgently need a new scheme. I support the thrust of what the Ombudsman has said in that regard. In my role, I have inherited a tax-based scheme which we will continue to operate until it is replaced by a new, more modern scheme. I have sought to change the existing scheme to meet the needs of a relatively small number of people who, in general, have to import a vehicle from the UK because the nature of the adaptations they require is very significant, they have to be done in the UK and the tax bill tends to be very large. We have managed to come up with a solution to that issue but there are more fundamental problems with the scheme overall.
The other issue for which I have direct responsibility is getting the appeals board back up and running. As the Deputies are aware, that has been beset with problems. The board resigned and then a process was gone through to get new members and so on. The National Rehabilitation Hospital, NRH, then withdrew from the scheme as the host of the appeals board. I acknowledge its engagement with my Department, however. I am confident we will get that back up and running very quickly. That said, however, it is not the end solution. The level of successful appeals is tiny, at only a couple of percent.
A new scheme is urgently needed. The Taoiseach has stated on the floor of the House that he will convene all relevant Departments, including the Departments of Health, Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Transport and my Department. We have learned a lot from the existing scheme. There is a significant amount of knowledge. I was trying to work out a solution to the issue that presented for Leigh Gath and others. We engaged with the Irish Wheelchair Association, Disabled Drivers Association of Ireland, Revenue Commissioners and others. We looked back at the history of the scheme and the nature of the applications. There is a wealth of information there. Approximately 30,000 people are currently benefiting from the existing scheme but it is not an answer in itself. We need a new scheme and I will do all I can in my role to make sure that is brought forward as a matter of urgency.
I welcome the Minister's statement that he will try to bring it forward as quickly as possible but time is up on this, and has been for a long time. It is important that a deadline is set within Government to ensure a scheme is put in place. An Indecon report commissioned by the Government on the additional cost of living with a disability stated the additional cost is €9,000 per annum, on average. That is before one considers the rate of inflation for the past year or 18 months. That report has not been acted upon either. In many cases, lip service is being paid to vulnerable people. We need to restore equality in order that everybody has a chance to live independently and participate fully in society. That is a right that we must uphold.
The Minister used the word "immediate" at least once in his response. He used the word "urgent" several times. I do not doubt his commitment to this or his bona fides on it but, based on the delays to date, I doubt the Government’s ability to deliver it in a timely manner. People have waited long enough. Will the Minister put this on the agenda of the Cabinet next week in order that he can come back to me and Deputy Canney with a timeframe for when a new scheme will be put in place? The announcement of the budget will probably be drip-fed during the summer, if not by the Minister then by some of his ministerial colleagues who will be consumed with wishful thinking. We need to make sure this is dealt with in the next budget. If a new scheme cannot be put in place in a timely manner even though everyone accepts it would be the ideal solution, the Minister should change the budgetary measures that were brought in by the previous Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, and allow for a more open scheme. We need a time commitment on this.
I thank the Deputies. I have been of the view for quite some time, having examined individual cases, that a tax-based scheme based on the existing criteria for the primary medical certificate is not the way forward. I will continue to operate the existing scheme. We have made one significant improvement. We will get the appeals board back up and running and I will lend my full support to getting a new scheme, which will be a grant-based scheme based on the needs of individuals, in place. It will involve defining the criteria, which is complex and difficult, but it will need to be done.
I am very much aware of the report on the cost of disability. The Government responded last year, albeit in the form of a once-off payment of an additional €500 to people in receipt of disability allowance, for example. In the lead-up to the budget, we will consider what we can do to provide assistance to people with a disability.
As regards the question in respect of the Cabinet, the Taoiseach gave a commitment last week on the floor of the Dáil. He will be convening a meeting of the relevant Departments to put in place a process that will quickly lead to a fit-for-purpose modern scheme being developed and I will provide my full support to that process.
