Vol. 554 No. 5
907 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Health and Children if a person (details supplied) in Dublin 5 will be assisted in their efforts to get adequate financial assistance and tax allowances with their disability; and if the local health auth orities will contact this person with the best advice and support. [15423/02]
The following is a list of allowances which come under the remit of the Department of Health and Children and may be of interest to the individual concerned:
Mobility Allowance:
The purpose of this allowance is to provide financial support to people with a severe disability who are unable to walk or use public transport and is intended to enable them to benefit from a change in surroundings – for example, by financing the occasional taxi journey.
To be eligible to receive this allowance, applicants must satisfy the following conditions be over 16 years and under 66 years; be living at home or maintained in any long-term institution; be unable to walk, even with the use of artificial limbs or other suitable aids, or must be in such a condition of health that the exertion required to walk would be dangerous; inability to walk has to be likely to persist for at least one year; moving of the applicant must not have been forbidden for medical reasons; be in a condition to benefit from a change in surroundings.
It is a matter for the senior area medical officer in the relevant health board to decide whether the medical criteria are satisfied in each case. Applicants must undergo a means test to decide eligibility.
Motorised Transport Grant:
The purpose of this allowance is to provide financial assistance to persons with a severe disability who may need a car to obtain-retain employment or to provide financial assistance to persons with a severe disability who are living in very isolated circumstances and have serious transport problems.
To be eligible to receive this allowance applicants must satisfy the following conditions: their disability must impede their use of public transport; they must hold a driving licence; they must be physically and mentally capable of driving; the motorised transport must be a necessity in order for the disabled person to obtain-retain employment or have transport requirements because of very isolated circumstances.
Applications may also be considered in the cases of persons with severe disabilities, who are incapable of managing the controls of a car or where on medical opinion it is inadvisable for them to drive and therefore they must be driven to and from work. Consideration might be given for the purpose of the scheme to award a grant for the purchase of a car in the name of the person with the disability subject to the understanding that he or she will be driven by another person, whose name will be notified to the health board, to and from his-her place of employment. Applicants must undergo a means test to decide eligibility.
