Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is a small amendment. I have no issue with removing the reference to "the Minister for the Environment” and substituting “the Minister for Transport”. However, I will take this opportunity to speak about wider issues. This committee has dealt with the issue of the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme. We have heard from the Ombudsman. It is an absolute crying shame that, as the Ombudsman has said, people are being locked into their own homes because an appropriate scheme is not up and running. Back in October 2021, the board of appeals resigned en massebecause the concerns it raised repeatedly with the Minister's predecessor, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, had fallen on deaf ears. The entire board resigned, which was unheard of before, and outlined its reasons for doing so. It said it could not continue to operate a discriminatory scheme. There have been challenges in filling the vacancies on that board since. I understand the five members of the board of appeal have now been appointed but that there is a significant backlog of work.

The bigger issue is that the scheme is not fit for purpose. We are changing the person who needs to be consulted but that is not the issue. Whether it is the Minister for the Environment or the Minister for Transport, the scheme is not working for many people out there. Every party across the political divide has raised concerns as to how this scheme is not working for people who have significant disabilities and who are not able to access this scheme because of the rigid criteria in place. There are other very significant issues as regards equity in the scheme and the need to move away from it. I acknowledge the Government has stated publicly that a new scheme will be established and that it will be moving to a grant-based scheme as opposed to a tax-based scheme, which would be more equitable. The working group has also proposed and endorsed proposals for a modern fit-for-purpose scheme to replace the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme.

Where does this go now? This is still under the Minister's remit. There is a lot of we will do this and we will do that, and all the rest, but as the months go on, there are still people, who the Ombudsman talked about, who are locked into their homes. They cannot get out of their homes because they have no transport to take them up to the park, over to mass, or whatever it is. It is not fair. These people are expecting the State to support them. There are 1,079 appeals outstanding as of end of August. That is a terrible situation. I want the Minister to outline to the committee where this is going. The amendment may, in a way, be a necessary one but to tell the truth it is nearly an insult because nobody cares who is going to be consulted. People just want the scheme to work and want the scheme up and running. They want these appeals to be heard. It is not only about wanting the appeals to be heard. The people who are hearing the appeals say they are operating under such rigid criteria that when they hear the appeals, they have to refuse them even though they know the person needs the support. At this stage, thankfully everybody across the political divide has acknowledged that the scheme does not work and needs to be changed. Yet, we are into the end of 2023 and we are still in this situation.