Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I guess it is a bad time to come looking for something new but it is important to highlight the plight of people with Down's syndrome. My timing probably is not great but I hope as we move forward that the finances will be available to expand this scheme further. The cost of scheme at €43.5 million seems quite high when only 4,355 citizens availed of the vehicle registration tax and VAT relief and 11,436 availed of the repayment of excise on the fuel element, but I am sure the figures are correct when the calculations are worked out. For as long as I will be a Member of the Oireachtas I will raise this issue again and perhaps in the future the finances will be available to expand the scheme. As the Minister of State said, one of the criteria is for an applicant to have the medical condition of dwarfism. I agree that people with dwarfism should qualify for the scheme, but that criterion also includes the words "and have serious difficulties of movement of the lower limbs". Many people with Down's syndrome have serious difficulty with the movement of lower limbs. I accept that wording in that criterion was referring to dwarfism but it could be expanded. I know that I am not going to get the answer I want tonight but I will continue to highlight the issue.