Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the case of my constituent Joseph in Kilkee who, only for policy reasons, has been discriminated against by the State for having the cheek not to be related by blood to the carer he lives with and who does absolutely everything for him. I find it disgraceful in this day and age that we are still discriminating against carers on the basis of blood when it comes to the criteria for the disabled drivers and passengers scheme. I wrote to the Minister about this six months ago and am still waiting for a reply. I ask the Taoiseach, on behalf of my constituent Joseph and the thousands of others in similar circumstances, to take action on this and remove the criterion requiring a relationship by blood. As we all know, family is sometimes about much more than bloodlines.

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