A group of amputees met with government representatives at Leinster House this week to discuss issues relating to the allocation of primary medical certificates which offer financial relief for persons living with disabilities.
David Digan, who lost his left arm below the elbow after a motorcycle accident, previously spoke to Gript about the difficulties he was facing in accessing a primary medical certificate and how costs incurred due to the lack of the certificate represented a significant financial burden on him.
The primary medical certificate scheme provides relief from vehicle registration tax and VAT and is only open to severely and permanently disabled persons as a driver or passenger. To qualify for the relief the applicant must hold a PMC issued by the local HSE board or following an appeal with the Disabled Drivers Board.
Last January Gript reported on developments where former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar promised to investigate the issue after it was raised by Independent TD for Laois-Offaly Carol Nolan.
Five members of the 26 strong group, Jamie Kent, Mick Mac Aoghan, Paul Fitzsimons, Jane O Keeffe and Digan made their way to Dublin to participate in a sitting of the Oireachtas in hopes of finding a solution.
Digan told Gript, “We were glad to have our voices heard” adding that however “there was nothing new that came up on Monday unfortunately”.
He said the group “don’t hold out much hope in anything changing, which in our eyes will be scandalous,” he said adding that this was “obviously”a “direct disregard for the provisions under the UNCRPD.”
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) “applies established human rights principles from the UN Declaration on Human Rights to the situation of persons with disabilities. It covers civil and political rights to equal treatment and freedom from discrimination, and social and economic rights in areas like education, health care, employment and transport” which Dignan says the Irish government is failing to uphold.
“They need to live up to their own principles,” he said.
The group of amputees told Gript that they had run “into the same barriers while applying for any of the alleged free services” like the disabled drivers permit, Irish wheelchair association, primary medical care “and so on”.
They described the way they are being treated “at every hurdle” as “disgraceful” saying they have been met with “refusal after refusal and being pushed from one section to another to fill out the same forms over and over.”
Digan says mobility allowance & a motorised transport grant schemes that were “stopped” in 2013 “were promised” to be replaced straight away, but that “after 11 years they still haven’t been replaced.” Digan added “This is another reason why we don’t hold much hope.”
Digan who was a professional diver before losing his arm said that he has personally contacted the Ombudsman, FLAC, the Europe Direct, IHREC, and Citizens Advice in efforts to find a solution.