Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has committed to investigate issues related to difficulties faced by disabled persons in securing Primary Medical Certificates (PMC)
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.
The issue reached the Dáil after a 39-year-old amputee from Westmeath, David Digan, told of how repeated refusal of his applications for a PMC has pushed him ‘to the brink of poverty’.
Independent TD for Laois Offaly Carol Nolan secured a commitment from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that he will investigate the matter specifically with respect to the rejection of appeals from the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal.
Deputy Nolan highlighted the issue citing the case of Mr. Digan, her own constituent, who lost part of his left arm when it had to be amputated after a traumatic motorcycle accident he was involved in in 2019.
He also suffered several broken bones in his shoulder and a brain injury.
Digan told the Irish Examiner that despite his disabilities his application for a PMC was repeatedly refused.
Deputy Nolan had previously raised the issue with Táiniste Micheál Martin in July 2023 and has said it is her understanding that as many as 1,000 people are affected.
Wexford man, Michael Mac Aogain, who is missing his arm from the left shoulder told Gript he has been trying to get a PMC for the last 16 years.
Mac Aogain said his application has already been refused eight times and that he is expecting his ninth application to be rejected also.
Describing life before the accident that cost him his arm he said, “I was an electrician by trade and ran my own business training apprentices to become machine service engineers contracted to Coca Cola and Robert Roberts covering an area from Wicklow to Dungarvan and in to Carlow and Kilkenny.”
“I ran the business for 27 years and in 2016 eight years after my accident I closed it down and went to seek medical help for my injuries.” he said
Mac Aogain said he suffered a Complete Brachial Plexus injury, which left him with no movement power or sensory perception from his left shoulder to the tips of my fingers on his left hand. He said that due to the risk of cuts on burns on tissue with no feeling his only option was to have his left arm amputated.
“I do have my two feet, thank God, but cannot walk any distance. I damaged my Phrenic nerve in the accident which means my diaphram on my left side does not work and is placated down to prevent infection.” he said adding that this meant he was “functioning on one lung”.
“I am also an asthmatic and also a diabetic. For good measure I have chronic pancreatitis.” he added
Mac Aogain said that despite all the health issues he struggles with he was made to feel “small” by the constant rejection of his PMC applications.
He said that although he is nearing retirement age he is still active in his community helping people who he said are ‘worse off’ than himself.
Describing himself as a “fighter” Mac Aogain said a PMC would make his life “so much better”.
Welcoming Varadkar’s commitment to investigate the issue, Deputy Nolan said, “I want to thank the Taoiseach for his commitments on this matter and for his acknowledgement that we must have a credible rights based approach to meeting the needs of disabled persons,”
“In this instance that clearly means we need to have a root and branch review and indeed reformulation of the existing eligibility criteria which are inflexible and unrealistic.” she said.
“There has been some progress recently with respect to the re-establishment of the Board of Appeal following the mass resignation of the previous Board in 2021.”
Nolan slammed the process of PMC application saying that the hard work done was being “undermined because of the way in which the eligibility criteria for a primary medical cert is being applied with a kind of bureaucratic zealotry that is contrary to our obligations around the rights of disabled persons.”
“We are talking here about approximately 1000 people and while the numbers may increase over time it is certainly not a number of applicants that would cause the state any undue or unmanageable pressure if the criteria were more flexible.”
Commenting on the relatively small cohort of applicants which she said is in the region of 1,000, Deputy Nolan said she understands that the issue can be resolved by means of a Statutory Instrument from the Minister for Finance.
“Hopefully this option will be examined and pursued as soon as possible following the Taoiseach’s commitments to me today,” Deputy Nolan concluded.