Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

1 o’clock

I wish to address the crisis relating to primary medical certificates, which confirm that a person is severely or permanently disabled. In June, the families of two disabled children won a Supreme Court appeal challenging a refusal to allow them to avail of the scheme. Both of the children were wheelchair users. One of the parents told me that when her son visited the area medical officer, his wheelchair did not fit through the door. The boy was ordered to stand up by the medical officer but when he tried to do so, he fell onto the floor. In spite of that, the boy was refused a primary medical certificate. The five judges sitting on the Supreme Court were unanimous in their decision to quash the refusal of the medical certificate for the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme. Following the ruling, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, suspended the issuing of primary medical certificates, denying hundreds of people their human rights. Can the Tánaiste assure me the scheme will be reinstated with immediate effect?

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