Vol. 558 No. 3
97 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Finance when the report of the review group concerning the disabled drivers and passengers scheme will be made public; if he accepts the recommendations in the report; his views on whether there is very slow progress in this matter given that the review group was established in 1997; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24150/02]
As the Deputy will appreciate, the work of the review group was complex. The group was established in 1997 and met 30 times. As part of its deliberations, the group heard oral submissions over a period of five and a half days and received more than 260 written submissions from interested parties.
While definitions of disability vary, I have been informed that there are up to 360,000 persons in Ireland who could be regarded as disabled to some degree or other. These include both persons with less severe medical conditions than those which are covered by the scheme and persons with medical conditions which are not covered by the scheme. The substantial tax benefits of the disabled drivers' and disabled passengers' (tax concessions) scheme make for considerable interest in and desire to be admitted to the scheme. Therefore, many factors had to be taken into account by the review group and many interests balanced. This work and analysis took time.
