Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 190: To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to relax the conditions for obtaining a primary medical certificate from the Health Service Executive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15182/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme provides relief from VAT and Vehicle Registration Tax (up to a certain limit), and exemption from motor tax, on the purchase of an adapted car for transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities. The disability criteria for these concessions are set out in the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations 1994. To get a Primary Medical Certificate, an applicant must be permanently and severely disabled within the terms of these Regulations. Some 13,500 people benefited under the scheme in 2009 at an overall estimated cost of €56 million. Any changes would have to be considered in the context of the annual Budget.