I raise the appalling way my constituents and applicants in this State are being treated when it comes to making an application for a permit through the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme. As the Tánaiste is aware, the scheme provides relief from vehicle registration tax and VAT on an adapted car, as well as an exemption from motor tax and an annual fuel grant, open to severely and permanently disabled persons as a driver or passenger. It is also open to certain charitable organisations. However, to qualify for the relief the applicant must hold a primary medical certificate issued by the board of the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal. However, this is not happening and has not been happening for years, following the resignation of all members of the previous Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal in November 2021.

I know from my engagement with the National Rehabilitation Hospital that 1,000 applications are still waiting to be processed by one person. One person is expected to process 1,000 applications. This is up from the 726 severely disabled people who were awaiting an appeal at the end of last year. Indeed, 382 of those appeals date back to 2021. I know the Tánaiste will agree that this is absolutely no way to treat disabled people or any citizen of this State. It is leading to massive levels of isolation and frustration for disabled drivers and their families. It has to be dealt with urgently. Last December, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, when he was Minister for Finance, stated he was hopeful a new board would be up and running in January 2023. Here we are, seven months on, and the new board is still not in place. I would like assurances and a timeframe from the Tánaiste as to when this issue will be attended to and given the serious priority it deserves. The longer the board of appeal is out of action, the more the backlog will build, with all of the delays that come with that. Will the Tánaiste ask the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Health, who is seated beside him, to work together to resolve this mess and this chaos, to give disabled drivers their freedom and independence back? Those are basic rights.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. She is correct to say this has gone on for far too long. It is not satisfactory. I will engage with the Minister for Finance to bring forward proposals to deal with the issue. It has had a long history. There was an earlier scheme in the 1990s that was broader. At that time, the then Department of Finance had views that it was too broad and it narrowed it. Most of us who have experience dealing with the current scheme, as it was in terms of the criteria and so on, accept that it is particularly narrow in terms of who can gain eligibility under the scheme. There are two elements. A review is needed of the criteria governing eligibility and the re-establishment of the board in the context of the conclusion of that review. There also need to be mechanisms to make sure people can process their applications and get outcomes in a timely manner. I will engage the Minister for Finance on this. The Deputy has raised a fair point. I acknowledge that and I will revert back to the Deputy.

I thank the Tánaiste. I completely concur with his comment that the criteria are too narrow. That could be part of the problem why the recruitment of five people for the board is proving to be, and has proved to be, so difficult over the past two years. That could be the kernel of the issue. We also need to look at the massive workload it entails. If five people are recruited to roles on the board, I believe it takes a quorum of three for the appeal hearing. That needs to be looked at and some sort of efficient mechanism put in place to assist people who agree to join the board.

I want to make the point that my constituents who have contacted me about this are frustrated. It is not good enough. We want to move forward with rights for disabled people. We have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. That was not before time, and we were one of the last countries to do so. We need to move forward and make sure our words match our actions. I welcome that the Tánaiste has said he will engage. It needs an urgent intervention and it has to be made a priority.

The Minister for Health is engaging with the National Rehabilitation Hospital in the context of the operation of this scheme to make sure there are sufficient numbers of necessary medical resources and staff, and on the broader issue of the volume of applications in terms of there being sufficient numbers on the board or to support the board in respect of processing the applications. I understand the urgency and importance of this for many people who benefited from the scheme in the past and those who fall to benefit from it now and in the immediate future.