Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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262. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the provision that is made for special parking rights and allowance for passengers with autism, similar to the blue badge issued by an organisation (details supplied). [12336/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Disabled parking permits are available to people living in Ireland whose mobility is severely restricted, whether they are drivers or passengers, and also to those who are registered blind.

There is no explicit provision in the scheme for passengers with autism. Eligibility for the permit is not based on a fixed list of specific conditions, but the extent to which the applicant's ability to walk is affected by their disability or long-term illness.

While the possibility of extending the eligibility criteria for the scheme to specifically include people with autism has been raised with my Department on a number of occasions, I must be very clear that issuing a large number of extra permits by extending the criteria would put the scheme under significant additional pressure and compromise the availability of disabled parking spaces to people with restricted mobility, for whom accessible parking is essential.

The Deputy may wish to note that individual applicants with autism may qualify for a permit where a medical professional deems their mobility to be affected to the point that they satisfy the statutory criteria.