Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Subhead A3, which includes committees and commissions, provides for a cost for the disabled drivers' medical board of appeal, which the Minister mentioned in his opening statement, with an allocation of €370,000. This has been a disaster for those who have been waiting for decisions on appeals and has been very difficult for the board members, who resigned en masse in 2021. The committee has looked into this and we know that correspondence from the chairperson and members of the board went unanswered by the Minister's predecessor, Deputy Paschal Donohoe. A very cold attitude was taken to a very sensitive issue. For what I believe was the first time in the history of the State, although I could be corrected, it resulted in an entire board resigning because the members believed they could not carry out their functions in a way that was consistent with the needs of those with permanent and severe disabilities. We are told that the board of appeal is going to be in place soon. It is really welcome that there has been movement on this. The first round did not elicit any individuals to come forward to populate the board. However, the core underlying issues still remain. The criteria are not fit for purpose. Has the Minister given any assurances to the incoming board in respect of a different approach to this? Will we still see decisions having to be made under these very strict criteria? I am aware that officials in another Department are looking at a wider issue in terms of mobility for those with disabilities.