Vol. 495 No. 2
79 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Finance the progress, if any, made in relation to the reviews of the first schedule of the primary medical certificate of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations, 1994; his views on the need to allow more flexibility in genuine cases; and the number and most common cases that are referred for appeal. [19184/98]
I expect to receive shortly from the Revenue Commissioners a copy of their technical review into the operation of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme, S.I. No. 353 of 1994 refers.
Six different types of disablement are listed in the S.I. and a qualifying person must satisfy one or more of them in order to benefit under the scheme. For obvious reasons, the medical criteria are tightly drawn. As I mentioned previously in the House, the reliefs under the scheme are targeted at those persons who are severely and permanently disabled with regard to physical mobility. The last major review of the scheme was carried out in 1994. It is intended that a further review, chaired by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, will take place shortly.
Where a person is refused the necessary primary certificate on the basis that the specified medical criteria are not met, this refusal may be appealed to the Disabled Drivers' Medical Board of Appeal, an independent board whose decision is final. I am advised that the board received a total of 220 such appeals in 1997 and received 208 appeals to date this year. Statistics relating to those appeals are not maintained in such a way as to enable the specific reasons for the initial refusal of certification to be determined.
