Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Seery Kearney for her question. She has made her points very well in relation to this issue, which has been raised on many occasions in both Houses. I am responding on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, who is unavailable this morning.

The disabled parking scheme operates by segregating a proportion of public parking bays for the use of disabled parking permit holders. These permits, which are also known as European parking cards or disabled parking badges, are available to people living in Ireland whose mobility is severely and permanently restricted, whether they are drivers or passengers.The intention of the permit, and of the disabled parking scheme more generally, is to provide access to parking bays of sufficient size in close proximity to important services such as post offices, banks, pharmacies and shops for people for whom access to such services would be denied if they could not park and disembark, either because of the size of a parking bay or because they could not park within a short distance of a service due to their limited mobility.

An automatic entitlement to a disabled parking permit is extended to holders of the primary medical certificate, including those who are affected by dwarfism or restricted growth, those without the use of one or both legs, and those without both hands or both arms. The Senator has raised the case of her constituent who has lost one limb. The criteria there are quite clear and stark that the entitlement applies to those without the use of one or both legs and those without both hands or both arms. This entitlement is granted on the grounds that each of the disabilities encompassed by the primary medical certificate clearly involves a severe impairment of the ability to walk as a result of compromised or absent lower limbs in some cases, or severely disrupted balance in the case of those missing both arms. The permit is also available to applicants who are registered as blind with the National Council for the Blind in Ireland, so as to minimise their interaction with motor traffic and maximise their safety in navigating from a parking space to the entrance of their destination.

In 2010, the Department of Transport conducted a review of the disabled parking scheme, in consultation with various stakeholders. One of the central issues examined in the course of this review was eligibility for the scheme. Disability groups, in particular, were unhappy at the fact that some people were being issued with disabled parking permits because they had particular medical conditions rather than an actual mobility impairment. As a result of the review, the scheme was revised so that permits are now given on the basis of mobility impairment rather than the diagnosis of a particular condition or illness. This is in line with the original intention of the scheme and prioritises accessible parking for those who need it the most.

The possibility of extending the eligibility criteria for the scheme to include people with non-mobility-related physical disabilities, or those with certain forms of intellectual or cognitive impairment, has been raised with the Department of Transport on a number of occasions. Officials from the Department have consulted extensively with the joint issuing authorities of the scheme, the Disabled Drivers Association of Ireland and the Irish Wheelchair Association, on the matter. In light of this consultation, there are no plans at present to change the current criteria or to carry out a fresh review to that end.

I take on board what the Senator has said about graduated or different stages of relief for different degrees of disability and I will bring that point back to the Minister, as well as her point about people missing one limb. She made the point very well and it is an issue I have come across in my own constituency.