Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

During Leaders' Questions last July, and several times since, I have raised the backlog of 1,000 disabled applicants who are seeking a primary medical certificate. As the Taoiseach is aware, the primary medical certificate scheme provides relief from vehicle registration tax and VAT and is open to severely and permanently disabled persons as a driver or passenger. To qualify for the relief the applicant must hold a primary medical certificate, which is issued by the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal. However, this entire process was badly delayed when the board and its members resigned in 2021. I welcome the progress that has been made, and the intervention from the Minister for Finance, because the board has since been reinstated. That is certainly welcome and is one step forward, but there are many more steps to be taken with this whole issue.

One of the key reasons for the resignation of the previous board members was unfortunately the ridiculous severity of the eligibility criteria for a primary medical certificate. That caused and continues to cause much frustration. When I raised this issue with the Tánaiste directly last July, he acknowledged there was an earlier scheme in the 1990s that was far broader and more flexible in scope. He was referring to the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations 1994, which allowed for eligibility on medical grounds for disabled persons who were severely and permanently disabled, including those wholly or almost wholly without the use of both hands or arms, or wholly or almost wholly without the use of one leg.

This is the precise case of my constituent David Dignan, who has had his hand and much of his left arm amputated. However, despite a number of attempts to apply for a primary medical certificate, he has been denied it. This is absurd. It is not right or acceptable that a man with such a lifelong disability is being denied a primary medical certificate. David has spoken widely in local media about how the refusal of a primary medical certificate has forced him to the brink of poverty. I appeal to the Taoiseach to do what he can about the eligibility criteria. The re-establishment of the board of appeal was a welcome and positive move, but all of that work is being undermined because of the way in which the eligibility criteria for a primary medical certificate are being applied. They are being applied with a bureaucratic zeal that is contrary to our obligations on the rights of disabled persons.

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