Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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My priority is to get the board of appeal up and running so the backlog of appeal cases can be addressed. There are people all over the country waiting for that to happen and to have their case heard and processed. I expect the appeal board will be populated with members and start to function within weeks. That is my understanding, and I will do whatever needs to be done to make sure that happens. The people who are being appointed have now been Garda vetted. That is welcome progress.

The question of what this or a future scheme might look like is not one I can answer until I see the report which the working group of the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, will bring forward. To be fair to my predecessor, that working group was agreed to in autumn 2021 and tasked with reviewing all Government-funded transport and mobility supports for those with a disability and with making proposals for transport and mobility solutions for those with a disability. That has been the appropriate forum for the disabled driver and disabled passenger scheme to be examined. That work has been completed and I look forward to seeing the report as soon as it is published.

I think I am aware of the case the Deputy is referring to. The difficulty for Revenue is it does not have discretion in the application of tax law or VRT. While the Deputy and I might be deeply sympathetic to the case, we cannot legislate for an individual case. We have to try to make sure the system is fair for everyone and fit for purpose. I acknowledge the need for reform. The changes may be quite fundamental in nature. That remains to be seen. I cannot give comfort that I can personally intervene and fix the way in which tax is applied to an individual taxpayer. I cannot do that, as I think the Deputy knows. If there is a way of improving the overall system that provides for cases like that, I will do all I can to make that happen.