Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was contacted by an 89-year-old woman who has mobility issues and using a car is her only way to get around and out of the house. She applied for a primary medical certificate and it is quite clear there were serious miscommunication issues because she is a native Irish speaker and the application was done through English. She appealed the decision but, incredulously, she was told she would need to do a 600 km round trip to Dún Laoghaire to be assessed for the appeal. That cannot be serious. This woman is almost 90 years of age and where she lives in Connemara is an hour and a half away from Galway city, let alone to get all of the way up to Dublin. There seems to be a lack of common sense here and I know Deputy Chambers is the Minister for Finance and this falls under his remit. Will he speak to them to see if a bit of common sense could be brought to this situation?

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