David Norris (Independent)

I am grateful to my colleague Senator Brady for allowing me a couple of minutes of his time. I usually use the opportunity that arises while discussing the Appropriation Act to take up matters about which I have been lobbied by various charities. I have a folder containing correspondence from Age Action Ireland, Focus Ireland and organisations associated with child poverty and social inclusion for farm families.

Other Members have raised my concerns, some of which have been addressed at least partially in the budget, and I therefore want to make just one point which concerns a very decent man who lobbied me. I was actually part of a group that went up the Amazon in Brazil to raise funds for the blind. The man who lobbied me was a Garda driver who owned and drove his own car for 20 years. He was fully sighted at the age of 41 and at 42 he became blind. He represents various organisations for the blind. His problem and that of the people he represents is that blind people are excluded from the disabled drivers' and passengers' tax concessions scheme, which gives tax refunds to people to afford them mobility and allow them adapt motor cars so they can have independence. The blind have free travel on public transport and are allowed to have special discs to allow them have their vehicles parked in parking spaces for the disabled, yet they are excluded from the concessions scheme, which seems very unfair. I ask the Minister to reconsider this situation.

The cost of living for a blind person is estimated to be one third more than that for a fully able-bodied person. It is a question of whether the person is disabled and whether the provision of a car and driver, which is a lot more expensive than mere modification, should be considered feasible for inclusion in the scheme. Many proprietors of car showrooms assume automatically that blind people are entitled to the concession and advise them to this effect.

Consider the position if immobility is a criterion under the scheme. I am told and believe that a blind person, if taken out of a car and dumped in the middle of the road, would be just as immobile as a paraplegic who fell out of his or her wheelchair, but for different reasons. I am making the case that, under European legislation, statutory policies are required to be inclusive. In this case, unless the Minister has, without my knowing it, made a change in the budget already — I do not believe he has — the policies are not inclusive.

I am sorry to have to say that Ireland is the only EU country that does not give financial assistance to blind people towards the cost of mobility. In Britain and Northern Ireland, there is a care and mobility allowance which is not even means-tested. It is not a great sum of money but if it were granted here it would make a great transformation to the lives of the vulnerable citizens to whom I refer. I ask the Minister of State to take this on board.