Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to come to the House this morning. The tax relief scheme for the purchase of adapted vehicles for disabled drivers and disabled passengers is instigated by the granting of a primary medical certificate. This is an excellent scheme which makes a huge difference. It is the difference between many disabled people actively participating in their communities and being prisoners in their own homes. It is also the difference between disabled and elderly people being able to attend hospital appointments and not.

In rural constituencies, such as the area I come from in Mayo, there is rarely the option of using public transport. Travelling to University Hospital Galway is a six-hour round trip while travelling to a Dublin hospital is a ten-hour round trip.

I have some simple questions. Why do profoundly and permanently disabled people continue to be discriminated against in the criteria for accessing this scheme? Why are people with upper body disabilities excluded from the scheme? Is equal access to hospitals and other services not important for them?

I can outline three cases that come to mind. The first involves a woman whose arm is amputated to the shoulder. It is not going to grow back. She needs a specially adapted vehicle to get around just as much as if she had lost her leg. She lives on her own and has no other means of transport. Is she not as entitled to access the relief scheme as somebody who has a disability in their lower limbs?

The second case is an eight year old boy who is PEG fed and has severe scoliosis. He is not strong enough to undergo the operations he desperately needs. His parents make frequent trips to Crumlin and other hospitals. They need an adapted vehicle for the long and tiresome journeys they must undertake. Why are they refused access to the relief scheme?

In the third case, Deirdre is a 12 year old girl with a condition called Cornelia de Lange syndrome. She is non-verbal and has complex physical and mental special needs. As Deirdre cannot speak, I will speak for her and her parents, a fisherman and a housewife living in a remote rural area. Given Deirdre’s multiple health problems, they must make continual trips to hospitals and services, such as speech and language therapy, paediatrics, orthodontics, neurology, urology and genetics. Why in heaven's name did they get a letter stating, "Due to the strict criteria laid down for the primary medical certificate you were unsuccessful in obtaining same"?

I beg the Minister of State to put an end to the humiliation and struggle Deirdre and others with profound permanent disabilities are faced with when refused transport simply because their main disability is in their upper limbs. The Minister of State is a man of compassion. He is now in a position to right this wrong. I ask him to re-examine the criteria for this tax relief scheme with the Minister for Finance and stop the discrimination against people with upper limb disabilities. When will the motorised transport grant scheme, which was closed in February 2013, be reinstated?