Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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322. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to change the criteria for the primary medical certificate; the measures he plans to implement to address the concerns of the Ombudsman in relation to the scheme being overly rigid and inflexible, and that it may be causing inequity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21924/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am aware that the Ombudsman wrote to the Secretary General of my Department in December 2014 and made comments regarding the eligibility criteria of the Disabled Driver and Disabled Passengers Scheme.  The Ombudsman stated, inter alia, that he believed that the 'scheme is overly rigid and may well be causing inequity'. 

The Scheme and qualifying criteria were designed specifically for those with severe physical disabilities and are, therefore, necessarily precise.

The Scheme represents a significant tax expenditure. Between the Vehicle Registration Tax and VAT foregone, and the assistance with fuel costs used by members of the Scheme, based on provisional figures the Scheme represented a cost of €48.6 million to the Exchequer in 2014, an increase of €5.1 million on the 2013 cost. This figure does not include the revenue foregone to the Local Government Fund in the respect of the relief from Motor Tax provided to members of the Scheme.

I recognise the important role that the Scheme plays in expanding the mobility of citizens with disabilities, and I have managed to maintain the relief at current levels throughout the crisis despite the requirement for significant fiscal consolidation. However, given the scale and scope of the Scheme, I have no plans to expand the medical criteria beyond those currently provided for in the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations 1994.