Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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92. To ask the Minister for Finance the schemes and grants funded by the State that are available to persons with disabilities and the parents of children with disabilities regarding access to transport and financial assistance in purchasing wheelchair-accessible vehicles, or any other State supports available for disabled persons in terms of travel. [35346/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme provides relief from VAT and VRT (up to a certain limit) on the purchase of an adapted car for transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities, payment of a fuel grant, and an exemption from Motor Tax.

To qualify for the Scheme an applicant must be in possession of a Primary Medical Certificate. To qualify for a Primary Medical Certificate, an applicant must be permanently and severely disabled within the terms of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations 1994. The Senior Medical Officer for the relevant local Health Service Executive administrative area makes a professional clinical determination as to whether an individual applicant satisfies the medical criteria. Full details of the provisions of the Scheme and how to apply are available on the Revenue website .

I am informed by the Minister for Health that due to concerns following on from reports of the Ombudsman in 2011 and 2012 regarding the legal status of both the Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant Scheme in the context of the Equal Status Acts, the Government decided to close both schemes in February 2013. The Government is aware of the continuing needs of people with a disability who rely on individual payments which support choice and independence. In that regard, monthly payments of €208.50 have continued to be made by the Health Service Executive to 4,700 people who were in receipt of the Mobility Allowance at the time the scheme closed. The Government decided that the detailed preparatory work required for a new Transport Support Scheme and associated statutory provisions should be progressed by the Minister for Health. The Minister for Health has informed me that work on the policy proposals in this regard is at an advanced stage and he anticipates that this will be brought to Government shortly.