John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 123: To ask the Minister for Finance the reason a disabled passenger can claim more remission than a disabled driver under the present disabled drivers and passengers tax incentive scheme; and his plans to address this issue to ensure equality for both drivers and passengers under this scheme. [35874/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme provides relief from VAT and VRT on the purchase of a car adapted for the transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities, which results in considerable mobility problems, as well as relief from excise on the fuel used in the car up to a certain limit. The tax relief is restricted to vehicles with an engine size up to 2,000 cc in the case of a disabled driver and 4,000 cc in the case of a disabled passenger. This differential, and resultant difference in the maximum level of relief allowed, was introduced on the basis that a passenger may require a bigger and more expensive vehicle, for example a converted van that would be capable of taking a wheelchair.

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, 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, referring respectively to the operation of the appeals process and options for the future development of the scheme.

In respect of the long-term recommendations, including one relating to a separation of the passenger and driver elements of the scheme, further changes can only be made after careful consideration given the scale and scope of the scheme. For this reason, the Government decided that the Minister for Finance would 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. This consideration is undertaken on a regular basis.