The Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations, 1997 empower local authorities, the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Disabled Drivers Association, to grant a disabled person's parking permit to a person who is suffering from a disability that is of a nature that prevents him or her from walking or causes undue hardship to the person in walking. Eligibility is based on impaired mobility so a person must be unable to walk i.e. is a wheelchair user or, if mobile, is only able to walk with extreme difficulty. A person who has a disability affecting his or her hand is not eligible under the 1997 scheme.