Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is generally agreed. We have dealt with this issue in the committee over the last couple years as well as in the Houses. We have dealt with it on behalf of constituents who have become increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress in the area even though it has been indicated that provision is being made and the issue would be addressed, maybe by different rules or whatever.

There are a number of things in relation to the disabled drivers and disabled passenger scheme, and especially the criteria that is applied in determining the extent of the disability and whether the disability qualifies for consideration. This issue has come back to us again and again, to such an extent that I remember on one occasion saying to a guy who was making an application, "Look you have no chance at all of getting through the system". Surprise, surprise, he came to me a couple weeks later and said, "Look at this, what you told me was wrong". In fact, I was basing it on all the cases that I had dealt with, and everybody else was doing the same thing, only to find that some medical supervisor had made a different decision. I do not want to blame the individuals concerned. It is about the criteria laid down for dealing with the extent to which people have disabilities - I mean a severe disability - that are life changing. It is distressing to meet with them and talk about the possibilities. We tell them we are going to try to help them out in some way, shape or form. We tell them it has been promised for a couple of years but we are not sure when it is going to happen. The degree to which the people who have disabilities are affected by the slow movement in this area is something we should take into account. We should make the decision sooner and set a specified timetable or a timeline for achieving that particular target. It is urgent because it affects people with disabilities.

We tend to think about the disabilities, injuries or whatever people have suffered as an issue one can deal with in a kind of abstract way. It is not abstract for the people who are directly affected by them. That is the problem. The severity increases as time goes on and the people affected feel further neglected as time goes on, be it with a disability, injury or disability arising from an accident or whatever the case may be. As they see, it nothing is happening. A special evaluation should be done on the issues involved with a view to bringing the matter to a head as quickly as possible.