Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Regional Group on raising this important matter. It is an issue that is discussed regularly at the Joint Committee on Disability Matters and at practically every meeting with disabled people that I attend.

It is estimated that by 2026, disabled people will account for 16% of the population and it is crucial that this cohort of society has access to transport supports. People with disabilities should be able to live full and active lives within their communities but many obstacles remain that work to prevent them doing so, and access to transport supports is one of them.

Improving access to public transport is important in its own right but is it unreasonable to suggest that someone should address the transport needs of many disabled people who live in rural areas or struggle to get to bus stops or to stations? Without access to personal transport supports, many disabled people cannot do what others take for granted, including working, visiting family and friends, shopping or any other aspect of life where mobility is essential.

Up until 2013, the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant were in place to support disabled people with their transport needs. The mobility allowance supported transport costs for individuals who were unable to walk or to use public transport and who satisfied a means test. The motorised transport grant was a means-tested payment for disabled people who needed to buy a car to retain employment.

The 2021 Ombudsman’s report, Grounded: Unequal access for people with disabilities to personal transport schemes, focused attention on the fact that these transport supports for people with disabilities were inadequate, unfair and inequitable under the Equal Status Act. The report spelt out that in 2013, the Government decided to discontinue both the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant to the applicants. At the time, the then Government committed to developing an alternative scheme but we are ten years on and no alternative scheme has been put in place.

Considering the need for some disabled people to use private transport, especially in rural areas, the closure of the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant has significantly impacted these people’s ability to participate fully in daily life. This has precluded them from accessing education, as well as from participating in their communities, socialising and accessing healthcare.

Considering the additional transport costs disabled people face, which were highlighted in the Indecon: The Cost of Disability in Ireland report, it is essential that these schemes be replaced with a 21st century fit-for-purpose scheme that alleviates these costs and enables disabled people to fully participate in society and that complies with the Equal Status Act. The Ombudsman's report also pointed out that the only remaining transport support available for disabled people is the disabled driver and passenger scheme. The scheme provides a range of tax reliefs linked to the purchase and use of a specially constructed or adapted vehicle by drivers and passengers with a disability. The report, however, goes on to highlight that the scheme is inadequate to meet the needs of many people living with a disability as the medical criteria for eligibility is excessively restrictive.

They are so restrictive, in fact, that the entire membership of the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal resigned in November 2021 after expressing concern over how this was being handled. Amid ongoing concerns, it is too difficult to obtain a primary medical certificate. I am not surprised. Out of 401 appeals assessed in 2017, only 12 were successful. In 2018, there were 20 successful appeals out of a total of 386. In 2019, nine were successful out of 424, and in 2020 four were successful out of 116. Members of the previous appeals board indicated that unless you had a progressive condition, your appeal would not be successful. Therefore, unless your condition had worsened significantly since your first assessment for a primary medical certificate, you were not successful. That criterion did not apply to many people.

The resignation of the board has led to a large backlog of appeals. As of 31 December 2022, according to a reply I recently received to a parliamentary question, 759 people had been waiting for an appeal hearing. Replacing the board has taken a long time. Only recently, after two expressions-of-interest campaigns, was a sufficient number of suitable candidates found and put through Garda vetting. Unfortunately for those awaiting their appeal, however, it seems further delays will be inevitable as it has recently been brought to my attention that the National Rehabilitation Hospital has indicated it wishes to cease its involvement with the scheme. Considering that the hospital's facilities and secretarial service are integral to the operation of the appeals board, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, has said, in response to a parliamentary question of mine, that it may take time to put in place feasible and appropriate alternative arrangements to enable the appeals process to recommence. In the meantime, more and more disabled people whose applications for a primary medical certificate have been turned down will join the growing waiting list to have an appeal heard and will be unable to access the scheme.

It has been acknowledged by the Department of Finance, which currently administers the scheme, that the scheme is no longer fit for purpose, even when fully up and running, and does not meet the needs of a significant group of those with a disability and mobility impairment. It is significantly divergent from best practice internationally and does not and will never operate to the standard expected of a 21st-century operational model. While this acknowledgement is welcome, what is needed now is action in putting in place a new scheme – one that will provide vehicle adaptions based on the needs of the disabled person and not on the basis of restrictive medical criteria.

These matters have been raised repeatedly with the Government. People with disabilities are paying the price for the lack of leadership. They are being denied their right under the UNCRPD to live full, independent and inclusive lives. The convention, ratified by the Government in March 2018, sets out under Article 9 that accessibility is a precondition if persons with disabilities are to live independently and participate fully and equally in society. However, when ratifying the convention, the Government chose not to ratify the optional protocol, which would have enabled people with a disability to make complaints to the UN about potential rights violations. A member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, when speaking at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters about the Government not ratifying the optional protocol, suggested Ireland is not confident or comfortable enough to open itself up to international scrutiny. This is having a major impact on the personal lives of disabled people. It is blocking their path to living independently, socialising and working.

I do not believe there is any sense of urgency in addressing the matter of transport supports for disabled people. The transport working group, established in 2020, only recently finalised its report for the Minister on proposals for the development and co-ordination of advanced transport and mobility support options for persons with disabilities. It is shameful that, in 2023, disabled people are still not able to participate equally and actively in their communities and work. What is now needed from the Government is action on putting in place a new 21st-century, fit-for-purpose scheme that alleviates transport costs that people with disabilities face, results in vehicle adaptions based on their needs and not based on restrictive medical criteria, and that complies with the provisions of the Equal Status Act. This needs to happen if we are to enable disabled people to participate in society fully.

Once again, I commend the Regional Group on raising this important matter. My colleagues in Sinn Féin and I will be supporting the motion. I urge all other Deputies, including those in the Government benches, to support it also.

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