Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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139. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will review the criteria applying to applications under the disabled parking permit scheme to include the partially blind; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41317/20]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The Disabled Parking Permit (also known as the European Parking Card or Disabled Parking Badge) is available to people living in Ireland whose mobility is severely restricted, whether they are drivers or passengers. 

The possibility of extending the eligibility criteria for the scheme to include people with non-mobility related physical disabilities, or those with certain forms of intellectual or cognitive impairment, has been raised on a number of occasions and the Department has consulted extensively with the joint issuing authorities of the scheme, the Disabled Drivers Association of Ireland (DDAI) and the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWC), on this matter.   In light of this consultation there are currently no plans to change the criteria.

I must particularly emphasise to the Deputy that issuing a large number of extra permits by extending the eligibility criteria would in fact put the existing scheme under significant additional pressure and compromise the availability of disabled parking spaces in general, thus disadvantaging those with restricted mobility who are currently eligible.