Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We could do with a little more information. As the Minister will be aware, there are 40,000 people living with epilepsy in Ireland. With the right treatment regime, 70% of people diagnosed with epilepsy can become seizure free but for 30%, their condition will be more challenging due to the nature and impact of uncontrolled seizures.

Almost all diagnoses of epilepsy in adults come with restrictions on driving. This typically occurs without time to plan and prepare and can lead to major challenges and upheaval in a person's family, social and working life while he or she is learning to cope with a neurological diagnosis. Persons with epilepsy who hold a driver's licence and experiences a breakthrough seizure will lose their licence for a further 12 months until they become one-year seizure free. Many of the people with long-term uncontrolled epilepsy, who make up 30% of diagnoses, will never be able to hold a driver's licence.

The fundamental issue is that the State tells these people that they cannot drive, which is reasonable, and they get assistance with their transport. As the Minister will understand, the way to go about this is through the free travel scheme.

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