John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, on his reappointment. The Minister of State might feel I am back to haunt him again.I suppose that is the case, but I want to raise an issue I have raised in a Commencement debate twice previously. It relates to the motorised transport grant, which was removed in 2013 and has not been replaced. I raised the matter with the Minister of State in September 2016 and February 2017. It is now June 2017. Each time I raised it, the Minister of State gave an undertaking that legislation on a new motorised transport grant was imminent.

I will highlight one particular case as an example of a number of cases I am dealing with, as I am sure are other Senators and Deputies. I recall the issue being raised in the Dáil on numerous occasions in recent months also. It is the case of a wife looking after her husband 24 hours a day who is saving the State hundreds of thousands of euro, first in the sense that they did not make a claim against the hospital where the initial treatment was given, and, second, by caring for him in the family home. Effectively, they have had to beg, steal and borrow, in the best sense, to continue to do that. They got the motorised transport grant to buy a second-hand car on two or three occasions - this happened in 1995 - with a few thousand euro and they got the rest from credit unions. That is what I am talking about - a woman taking her husband to hospital appointments and giving him a break out of the house to provide stimulation because he will only allow her to look after him. It is a human case, and I am conscious of that. I will not delay the House on the matter but the last time I raised it was in February and the Minister of State said at that time that legislation was imminent. I am not holding my breath, but I implore the Minister of State to advance this in whatever way he can. We talk about value for money but this family is saving money for the State.