Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State is more than welcome. I am delighted to see her here because this Commencement matter was directed to the Department of Health. There ensued a series of emails informing me that this function moved to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on 1 March 2023. Lo and behold, we were told this morning that the issue is going to the Department of Finance. It has definitely been around the houses.

It is great to have the Minister of State here to discuss this important issue. We are trying to get to the bottom of the issue regarding disability services for people who need transportation. It is a huge issue for a small cohort of society which is badly affected.

In November 2021, I mentioned a case of a 34-year-old man with motor neurone disease. He was married with two kids. His wife was a full-time carer. He lived in a rural part of Bandon with no transportation. We were told in the House that the scheme had not been in operation since 2013 and there was no avenue to do anything for this poor man or his family. Amazingly, the community got together and a donor gave him a car. The man in question and his family have some independence today because of society stepping in where, unfortunately, the State failed. We are trying to get movement on these issues because there are other issues. People from different areas are trying to avail of a scheme that has not been in place since 2013. We are also looking at the taxation implications of the Department of Finance scheme and how that can be accessed. The latter is unique in its own right, with six really tight core principles that need to apply. The case of my next-door neighbour is an example. He is a young man, or possibly not so young any more. He is around my age, and when he was 13 years of age he lost his arm to a farm accident. An accident with a power take-off, PTO, shaft tore his right arm from the shoulder. He found he was not eligible for the scheme. He needs to lose two arms to be eligible. You could not write this stuff if you tried.

We are now in a scenario whereby families cannot qualify for the scheme because the criteria are so tight on the taxation element and the other side of the scheme has not been running since 2013. I am aware that it is proposed to set up a working group to look at these issues. I was informed of that when I was chasing the case in Bandon. That working group gave people some hope that there could be some joined-up thinking between the HSE and the Department of Finance. However, it has to be a workable scheme that addresses all the issues. There is no point in refusing a person who has, for example, Parkinson’s disease, by saying he or she does not qualify for the scheme, knowing that in a year’s time the condition will deteriorate and the person will qualify. That is what is happening. Compassion has to be tied into this scheme going forward.The working group needs to put a plan in place to ensure everyone has the ability to move around and access services.

This is about independence. It is about trying to give everyone in society independence. Unfortunately, since 2013 independence has been taken away from people with disabilities who cannot access transportation. In rural areas in particular, many people have no way of getting around other than by car. They cannot use public transportation. If there is no scheme to address that need, there is discrimination against that cohort of society. We need to get movement on such a scheme. We are trying to create a fair society for everyone. There was a significant surplus of €5 billion at the end of last year. That there is no scheme in place for this cohort of society - I agree it is a small group - is sinful. I am delighted the Minister of State is present because we need to get some drive and movement on this issue. As it fell under the Department of Health for a period, it probably did not get the regard it deserved. I hope we can now get impetus behind moving it forward. It a significant issue for the families who are in this unfortunate situation.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator. It is an important issue. Before I call on the Minister of State to respond, I welcome the students from Hollypark school in Foxrock. I am delighted to have them here on International Women's Day. I hope they will learn a lot.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome all those in the Public Gallery. I thank the Senator for tabling this Commencement matter. Before I read the script I have been provided by the Department of Finance, I note that within the Department of Health I pulled together the working group and decided to chair it myself, much to the surprise of the group, because I was told the Department of Health is not responsible for transport. Regardless of my title as Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, this is one of the biggest issues that comes across my desk as an elected representative for a rural area, no more than the Senator or the Acting Chairperson. I thank the Senator for raising the matter.

The disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme provides relief from vehicle registration tax, VRT, and VAT on the purchase and use of an adapted car, as well as an exemption from motor tax and an annual fuel grant. The scheme is open to severely and permanently disabled persons as a driver or as a passenger, as well as to certain charitable organisations. In order to qualify for relief, the applicant must hold a primary medical certificate, PMC, issued by the relevant principal medical officer or a board medical certificate issued by the disabled driver medical board of appeal. To qualify for a medical certificate, an applicant must meet one of six specified criteria. It is important to read into the record the narrow view of the six criteria. They are: to be wholly or almost wholly without the use of both legs; to be wholly without the use of one leg and almost wholly without the use of the other leg such that the applicant is severely restricted as to movement of the lower limbs; to be without both hands or without both arms; to be without one or both legs; to be wholly or almost wholly without the use of both hands or arms and wholly or almost wholly without the use of one leg; or to have the medical condition of dwarfism and have serious difficulties of movement of the lower limbs. That takes no consideration whatsoever of persons born with a congenital condition, such as blindness. It does not take into consideration children or young adults with challenging behavioural needs. It is a very limited and narrow view of what disability is.

To qualify for VRT and VAT reliefs, the vehicle must be specially constructed or adapted for use by the PMC holder as a disabled driver or where being transported as a disabled passenger by a family or by an organisation. The limit of allowable VRT and VAT reliefs depends on the PMC holder and the adaptations made to the vehicle. Disabled drivers can receive up to €10,000 for adaptations to the vehicle, which can include installing hand controls, for example. Disabled drivers can receive up to €16,000 if making certain specific adaptations. Disabled passengers can receive up to €16,000 for adaptations, while organisations can received up to €16,000 for relevant adaptations if transporting five or fewer PMC holders. Disabled drivers, disabled passengers and organisations transporting fewer or fewer PMC holders can receive up to €22,000 for certain extensive adaptations subject to strict conditions. Revenue data show that only a handful of vehicles, totalling less than 1% as at quarter 3 of 2022, meet conditions to qualify for extensive adaptation limits.

The Senator should note that the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme has been reviewed as part of the work of the national disability inclusion strategy, NDIS, transport working group, which I chaired. Its final report was published on 24 February 2023. The final report notes that the scheme is no longer fit for purpose. Introduced in the 1960s, the scheme has an outdated in-or-out medically based policy rationale. It does not meet the needs of a significant group of those with a disability or mobility impairments. It requires individuals to prove they are sufficiently disabled. Any expansion of eligibility criteria will still mean some individuals will not meet the criteria. The administrative and operational model of the scheme is not and never will be fit for purpose in terms of meeting the standards expected of a modern scheme.

The scheme is significantly divergent from international best practice on almost all scheme parameters. Of 32 examples, Ireland is the only one in which a department of finance is solely responsible for the scheme and it is the only country to rely solely on a lump sum tax relief for its vehicle-related provisions. Unlike the provisions in most other countries, the scheme has minimal controls for receipt of provisions, which creates considerable scope for maximisation and misuse of provisions. In short, the scheme has effectively become a vehicle purchase scheme, rather than one for vehicle adaptation. The NDIS transport working group endorses the recommendation to develop a new needs-based grant-aided vehicular adaptation scheme. I hope that answers some of the Senator's queries.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response. It is clear the scheme is not fit for purpose, as she acknowledged. It is about making sure we get a scheme in place to meet the needs of the people I represent, such as the man in Bandon to whom I referred, who are housebound other than when the community steps in out of goodwill, as well as those who lost limbs in an accident or were born without limbs. Such a scheme must be put in place.

I compliment the work of the Minister of State on the report that has been published. It is a hard-hitting report that acknowledges the flaws in the current scheme, which is totally out of sync with society and the realities of life. It is now about trying to make sure a new scheme can be put in place. The State has a surplus of money. There are people in need. Of all issues I encounter, this is a priority. The Minister of State is correct that she and I are from rural areas with similar demographics. Unfortunately, farm accidents occur in such areas.

There is a cohort of society that needs to be supported through the provision of a new scheme. Is primary legislation needed to bring in a new scheme or will it be run through a Department? Which Department will run the scheme? I mean no offence to the Minister of State but she saw how responsibility for taking this Commencement matter was hopped from the Department of Health to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and now she is here representing the Minister for Finance. That is because nobody wanted to touch this issue. It is a hot topic in so many ways. The string of emails we received was hilarious. I ask her to confirm the lead Department that will run the scheme and the timeline for when it will be up and running.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State will have the final few words.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Acting Chairperson. I hope my final few words will not get me in trouble. I thank the Senator for his acknowledgement. I compliment every Minister and official sent to participate on the group I reconfigured. I was not left short one Department. Every Department was represented at the table. To be fair, the Departments of Health, Finance and Transport, as well as the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and everybody else, were there. That is why it is a good and comprehensive report. As the Senator can see, nobody wanted to own this issue. That is why I took on the role of chairperson and owned it. The report has now been produced.The Senator saw through his thread of emails that still nobody wants to own it. At the end of the day, I am gone into the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Equality means rights of access by persons with a disability. If we believe in and breathe the UNCRPD, there is the right to participate. Regardless of where someone lives in rural or urban Ireland, they have the right to go to work or education and to participate as a normal citizen. In some instances, that might mean they need a vehicle to meet their needs. We cannot be restrictive in what is prescribed as to someone's access to that vehicle. I certainly will be having meetings as I have done within my own Department. I need funding behind this so quite rightly I will have to talk to the Minister for Finance. If he gives me the money, I will run it myself and if he does not, I think it should sit within the Department of Finance.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for those strong and positive words.