Vol. 442 No. 8
9 Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for Finance in view of the Disabled Drivers (Motor Taxation Concessions) Regulations, 1989, if he will grant a concession to a person who satisfies all the criteria but as this person is only three years of age adaption of vehicle is not required; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Disabled Drivers Scheme, established under the Disabled Drivers (Tax Concessions) Regulations, 1989, provides significant tax concessions to disabled drivers and passengers with severe mobility problems. To qualify under the scheme, drivers and passengers must satisfy specified medical criteria and have adaptations carried out to the vehicles involved. In the case of qualifying disabled passengers, the adaptation requirement is that the cost of adaptation must amount to 20 per cent of the pre-tax cost of the vehicle — this limit was reduced from 30 per cent in the 1991 Finance Act. This requirement stems from the fact that, generally speaking where qualifying passengers are concerned, the nature of any adaptations which would be required to the vehicle would be quite different from those required for qualifying drivers. It must also be borne in mind that the vehicles involved are not likely to be used exclusively for the transport of the disabled passenger but will also be used by others e.g. family members.
Against that background, the adaptation required is considered a fundamental control mechanism of the scheme which is designed to ensure that, within scarce budgetary resources, those most in need of help benefit. While I sympathise with the case referred to in the Deputy's question, I must, in order to protect the wider interest, reiterate that, however desirable it may seem, complete abolition of a minimum adaptation requirement — even in limited circumstances — could open the scheme to abuse and could, in the long term, be excessively costly to the Exchequer. I regret, therefore, that I am unable to see my way to waiving the adaptation requirement.
