Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It was International Epilepsy Day yesterday. I have soft spot for it because I know so many people with this condition. Epilepsy Ireland had a very catchy campaign saying to time the seizure, keep them safe and stay with them. Therefore, it is "Time, Safe, Stay". We are all about to be empowered to know how to look after a person who is having a seizure. There are 40,000 people in Ireland who have epilepsy, so the chances are we could come across someone going through a seizure.It is most important that we all empower ourselves to look after people with epilepsy, to be aware of the signs and to make sure that they feel safe in society. I call on the Department of Social Protection to amend the requirements for free travel and to build some flexibility into free travel schemes. If a person with epilepsy has a seizure, they are not permitted to drive for six months. That has a huge impact on many people's lives. It often puts them out of education and work because they cannot afford the cost of travel. It would be a good way to empower people to allow them to continue their day-to-day normal life as they would have done prior to having a seizure. For many reasons, it would be really beneficial for the Department of Social Protection to look at introducing flexibility into the free travel scheme. As the Leader is aware, the scheme is very rigid. I ask for the introduction of built-in flexibility and for allowances to be made to make it reasonable in certain cases, such as epilepsy.