Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)

I am delighted to speak on this motion, which I fully support. I particularly support the call on the Government to develop and introduce a cost-of-disability payment. We all know that the cost of living with a disability is significantly higher than the cost of living for a non-disabled person, but emotional and psychological costs also have to be borne. They are much more difficult to quantify, but they are no less real for that.

I will focus on one particular area, however, which is the ongoing issues around access to primary medical certificates. Almost two years ago, the then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, committed in this Chamber to investigate issues relating to the difficulties faced by disabled people in securing primary medical certificates, yet nothing of substance has changed since that time, which is concerning. The primary medical certificate scheme provides relief from vehicle registration tax and VAT and is only open to severely and permanently disabled people who are drivers or passengers. To qualify for the relief, the applicant must hold a primary medical certificate issued by the local HSE board or, following an appeal, the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal. I have repeatedly highlighted this issue. I have cited the case of Mr. Digan, who contacted me. This man lost part of his left arm when it had to be amputated after he was involved in a traumatic motorcycle accident in 2019. He also suffered several broken bones in his shoulder and a brain injury. Despite his difficulties and injuries, his application for a primary medical certificate was repeatedly refused, which makes absolutely no sense. It is my understanding that approximately 1,000 people are affected by this issue. While new payments dealing with the cost of disability are right and proper, we also need to focus on fixing the schemes already in place which are supposed to help disabled people return to active employment, such as the primary medical certificate. I call for an urgent review of that matter.

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