Vol. 452 No. 5
37 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Finance if he will have arrangements made to review the case of a person (details supplied) in County Dublin, who is disabled by multiple sclerosis and who is not allowed drive a standard car but has been refused a disabled drivers' tax concession. [8214/95]
The medical criteria for qualification as a disabled driver are specified in the Disabled Drivers and Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations, 1994. It is a fundamental requirement of eligibility for the scheme that an applicant must satisfy one or more of the criteria laid down in the regulations and obtain a medical certificate from the Director of Community Care and Medical Officer of Health in the local health board or, on appeal, from the independent Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal.
The medical criteria in question were examined in considerable detail in the course of a comprehensive review of the operation of the scheme which was completed late in 1994. The review recommended that the existing medical criteria should remain broadly unchanged, apart from some minor modifications. I am satisfied that they are appropriate for the fair and effective operation of the scheme.
I understand from the details supplied that the individual in question has been refused a medical certificate by the Director of Community Care and Medical Officer of Health. However, it is open to him to appeal to the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal, 25 Clyde Road, Dublin 4, if he has not already done so. The Deputy will appreciate that I cannot intervene in this independent process of medical certification.
