Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. The issues relating to transport for people with disabilities have been raised at the Joint Committee on Disability Matters on a weekly basis. Issues with the primary medical certificate and the workings of the certificate are constantly being brought up. In the first instance, the primary medical certificate as it is currently constituted is not fit for purpose. When it is not, it is very restrictive. If that is to be basis for providing aid or transport for people with disabilities, we need to make sure that everybody who has a disability is included in that scheme. That is the first review we need to look at. We must make sure the primary medical certificate is fit for purpose.

This matter has been ongoing. There was a court case in 2020 - nearly two years ago - and there is the issue with appeals. The people who resigned from the appeals board were very clear. They said it was not fit for purpose and they put it to the Government and the Departments of Finance, Health and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to make sure that a new scheme that was fit for purpose was put in place. If one message is to be taken from this debate, it is that we must be very clear regarding that ongoing review should be completed quickly in order to ensure that there is no delay and that the new scheme is brought forward as a matter of urgency. There are people who are hurting because of what is happening. There who are people making decisions and who cannot get access to transport and so forth. The scheme needs to be put in place as a matter of urgency. I ask the Government and the Minister and Minister of State to make sure it happens as a matter of extreme urgency.

In the time I have left, I wish to raise one other matter. In the debate, we talked about disabilities and the various challenges facing the disability side. One challenge is the assessment of need and the therapies required afterwards. The latter are non-existent in the public sphere. A significant effort is being made to recruit people into the HSE to provide the services as well as for the different schemes that are changing. The Government needs to look at how we are failing in terms of reducing the numbers on waiting lists and must make sure that proper assessments of need are conducted and that appropriate therapies are offered to families. The money should be following the person who needs to access the therapies. We should look at that to see if it is humanly possible to make sure everybody who is reaching out for therapies receive them. Many people have gone into private practice. Some have left public practice to go into private practice, which is very unusual, because of the frustrations within the public sphere. That is an issue we need to look at. I am thankful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate.

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