Local TD Denis Naughten will tell the Dáil next week that people with a disability have effectively been coping with a decade long lockdown because of the failure to put transport supports in place to allow them to access work and other community activities.
“Ten years ago the Government suspended the Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant for new applicants and promised to put an alternative fair and equal replacement scheme, but this has never happened,” stated Denis Naughten.
“More recently we’ve seen the Primary Medical Certificate being restricted and the appeals process abandoned. This is a scheme which, after a tortuous process, provides people with a disability a reduction in VRT and VAT when purchasing or adapting a vehicle. It also exempts them from motor tax and tolls and offers a fuel grant.
“Fourteen months ago my Regional TD colleagues and I brought these issues to the floor of Dáil Éireann when we were promised action, but little has happened.”
As a result, the Regional Group of TDs will table a private members’ motion next Thursday afternoon which recognises that people with disabilities are not receiving the support to live independently and lead active lives within our communities due to a lack of transport supports to meet their needs.
Transport costs are an extra living cost that people with disabilities cannot afford, over and above the costs faced by every other family in this Country. The Indecon report entitled “The Cost of Disability in Ireland” confirms that living with a disability adds, on average, an additional €9,027 to the cost of living explicitly relating to disability, transport and mobility.
People with disabilities need access to affordable public and personal transport. However, many people with disabilities are confined to home, unable to engage on an equal basis in employment or their community as they cannot access Government support to help with their personal transport needs.
“A fair and adequate personal transport scheme is long overdue. Our Private Members motion, to be debated next Thursday in the Dáil, focuses on the introduction of a new integrated transport scheme for people with disabilities and their carers that ensures flexible arrangements that meet the needs of the individual and are in compliance with the Equal Status Acts,” said Denis Naughten TD.
In February 2022, Regional Group TDs received full party support for a similar motion. However, since then, the Government has done nothing and continues to fail people with disabilities, their families and their carers with their delay in action. It is more than ten years since the Government suspended the motorised transport grant and mobility allowance and has done little to address these issues.
Some of the recommendations are:
- provide funding and introduce a comprehensive transport support scheme to replace the Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant as a matter of priority.
- reinstate and amend the Primary Medical Certificate process in line with the social model of disability and based on a broader spectrum of considerations rather than strict, narrow criteria, which presently is not fit for purpose.
- address the issues concerning the eligibility criteria for the schemes with immediate effect.
- reintroduce the payment of a cash allowance like the mobility allowance so that people with disabilities and their families have the flexibility and reliable door-to door transport for urgent appointments.
- invest in transport infrastructure that considers and supports accessibility, mobility, and inclusion for people with a disability.
“Ireland is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which places an onus on signatories to ‘provide access to transportation on an equal basis to enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life’, yet Government is ignoring this,” said Denis Naughten.
ENDS.
Contact:
Denis Naughten TD Mobile: 086 170 8800
Notes to Editor:
The Regional Group’s Private Members Motion will be debated in the Dáil next Thursday the 4th May.
Motion wording:
That Dáil Éireann
recognises that:
- Ireland is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)[1], which places an onus on signatories to “provide access to transportation on an equal basis to enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life”;
- people with disabilities should be able to lead full and active lives within our communities; and
- people with disabilities need access to public and personal transport;
notes that:
- the Ombudsman Report entitled “Grounded – Unequal access for people with disabilities to personal transport schemes”[2] highlights the years of inaction by the Government to address supports for people with disabilities;
- the lack of action and delay by Government in introducing a fair and fit-for-purpose transport scheme for people with disabilities is affecting their ability to live independently and participate in all aspects of life as stated by the UNCRPD;
- the Independent Living Movement Ireland[3] completed a review of the Disability Capacity Review to 2032[4], and made a series of enhanced recommendations for the implementation of rights-based services;
- transport costs tend to be an extra living cost that people with disabilities are unable to afford; the Indecon report entitled “The Cost of Disability in Ireland “[5] estimates that households spend on average an additional €9,027 on items specifically relating to disability, special versions of products, transport and mobility;
- many people with disabilities are confined to home, unable to engage on an equal basis in employment or in their community, as they are unable to access Government support to help with their personal transport needs;
- it has been ten years since the discontinuation of the Mobility Allowance and the Motorised Transport Grant for new applicants in 2013, the Government has yet to provide a fair and equal replacement scheme; and
- the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme continues to reinforce the inequitable eligibility criteria in primary legislation and continues to exclude many people in need of access to supports for personal transport;
calls on the Government to:
- collaborate with all relevant departments to develop a plan in consultation with people with disabilities, DPOs and disability service providers that provides collaboration and equitable access to transport across disability services, health and education as stated in the Oireachtas Joint Committee Report Joint Committee on ‘Disability Matters Aligning Disability Services with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities February 2023’ [6];
- introduce a new integrated transport scheme for people with disabilities and their carers that ensure flexible arrangements that meet the needs of the individual and are in compliance with the ‘Equal Status Acts’ [7];
- provide funding and introduce a comprehensive transport support scheme to replace the Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant as a matter of priority;
- reinstate and amend the Primary Medical Certificate process in line with the social model of disability and based on a broader spectrum of considerations rather than strict, narrow criteria, which presently is not fit for purpose;
- address the issues concerning the eligibility criteria for the schemes with immediate effect;
- reintroduce the payment of a cash allowance like the mobility allowance so that people with disabilities and their families have the flexibility and reliable door-to door transport for urgent appointments; and
- invest in transport infrastructure that considers and supports accessibility, mobility, and inclusion for people with a disability.
(Cathal Berry, Seán Canney, Peter Fitzpatrick, Noel Grealish, Michael Lowry, Verona Murphy, Denis Naughten, Matt Shanahan, Peadar Tóibín)
[1] https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-persons-disabilities
[2] https://www.ombudsman.ie/publications/reports/grounded-unequal-access-f/
[3] https://ilmi.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ILMI-Budget-2023-Invest-in-Inclusion.pdf transport recommendation page
[4] https://assets.gov.ie/154163/8fe32ca7-2154-4fb0-8a41-6931c5f15471.pdf
[5] https://assets.gov.ie/206636/f8e1b2af-af48-442b-9ca0-aff9efd35bd7.pdf
[6] https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/33/joint_committee_on_disability_matters/reports/2023/2023-02-23_report-on-aligning-disability-services-with-the-united-nations-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities_en.pdf
[7] https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2000/act/8/enacted/en/html