Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 182: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will review the criteria for qualification for the mobility allowance to take account of disabilities other than the very narrow criteria that now apply. [22957/07]

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 183: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the mobility allowance ends when the recipient reaches 66 years and that many over that age, particularly in rural areas, have no transport service they are capable of using; if she will consider ways in which this anomaly can be removed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22958/07]

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 182 and 183 together.

The mobility allowance is a monthly payment administered by the Health Service Executive, which provides financial support to severely disabled people who are unable to walk or use public transport and is intended to enable them to benefit from a change in surroundings, for example, by financing the occasional taxi journey. To be eligible to receive the mobility allowance applicants must satisfy the following conditions: be over 16 years and under 66 years — however, an allowance, once granted, will be continued after the age of 66 as long as the other criteria for eligibility are met. I currently have no proposals to amend this scheme.