Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 232: To ask the Minister for Finance the progress to date in 2005 with regard to implementation of the recommendations of the interdepartmental group which has reviewed the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations 1994; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33532/05]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, a special interdepartmental review group reviewed the operation of the disabled drivers scheme. The terms of reference of the group were to examine the operation of the existing scheme, including the difficulties experienced by the various groups and individuals involved with it — both on an administrative and user level — and to consider the feasibility of alternative schemes, with a view to assisting the Minister for Finance in determining the future direction of the scheme.

The group's report, published on my Department's website in July 2004, sets out in detail the genesis and development of the scheme. It examines the current benefits, the qualifying medical criteria, the Exchequer costs, relationship with other schemes and similar schemes in other countries. The report also makes a number of recommendations, both immediate and long-term, encompassing the operation of the appeals process and options for the future development of the scheme.

Following on from the report's immediate recommendations concerning the appeals process, amendments to the regulations governing the scheme were made firstly by my predecessor, and subsequently, by myself, in April and again in September, to improve the operation of the appeals process. These amendments included providing for an expansion from three to 15 of the number of medical practitioners serving on the medical board of appeal — this is expected to substantially reduce the waiting time for appellants.

In respect of the long-term recommendations, I should say that, given the scale and scope of the scheme, further changes can only be made after careful consideration. For this reason, the Government decided in June 2004 that the Minister for Finance will consider the recommendations contained in the report of the interdepartmental review group in the context of the annual budgetary process, having regard to the existing and prospective cost of the scheme. As the Deputy is aware, it is a long-standing practice of the Minister for Finance not to comment in advance of the budget on possible budget decisions.