Over the past six or eight months, a court case was resolved regarding people who are entitled to a primary medical certificate. Following a lot of the usual spin doctoring from the HSE and Department of Health, this is open but people are not getting appointments. The HSE and Department are prioritising Covid and leaving people with disabilities unable to get a primary medical certificate. Does the Minister think it is right that we are treating people with disabilities this way and what are we going to do about it?

I understand that following a Supreme Court decision in June last year, the Minister for Finance requested that the assessment process for primary medical certificates be suspended. On the passing of the Finance Act 2020, which provided for the medical criteria in primary legislation, I understand that the Minister for Health instructed the HSE to recommence assessments from 1 January 2021. As the Deputy stated, there unfortunately were some delays in processing assessments due to the involvement of medical officers in the national Covid-19 response, as well as ongoing public health restrictions. The HSE is continuing to monitor the situation and I will bring the Deputy's comment and concerns to it following this question.