Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme provides relief from VRT and VAT on the purchase and use of an adapted car, as well as an exemption from motor tax and an annual fuel grant.

There has been ongoing engagement between officials in my Department and both the Ombudsman and the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal since 2017 and I met with members of the board in March of last year. The ongoing engagement has reflected past and current issues surrounding the administration and oversight of the scheme such as the decision and implications of the recent Supreme Court case in June 2020; increases in the administrative burden and demand on the scheme arising from closures of other mobility schemes in the past decade; and concerns regarding eligibility criteria and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the assessment and appeals elements of the scheme.

The members of the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal wrote to me recently tendering their resignation from the board. My officials engaged with the Department of Health and the Public Appointments Service to seek expressions of interest from medical practitioners to participate in the board. I am informed that the notice seeking expressions of interest has been issued. It is hoped to move this process along as quickly as possible so that appeals can recommence as soon as possible.

I recently gave a commitment to the House that a comprehensive review of the scheme, to include a broader review of mobility supports, would be undertaken. I have been agreed with my colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, that the review should be brought within a wider review under the auspices of the national disability inclusion strategy, to examine transport supports encompassing all Government-funded transport and mobility schemes for people with disabilities.

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