Disability Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-20
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Keira Keogh (FG), Mayo

I thank the Minister of State and I respect his decision to move away from the prepared script. My concern is that in 2020, nobody saw Covid coming down the line and this led to the working group being paused. We have had different reports over the years from different Departments. We now know the Department of Transport is putting the scheme out for public consultation. I am pleased to hear that the Minister of State is going to talk with others about the fact that we do not need a consultation. I am not confident, however, that the consultation will not be pushed ahead. We do not know what will happen in the world in the next year, so the scheme could be pushed further down the line.
I know a 94-year-old man with carpal tunnel syndrome who cannot feel his hands. I know a lady in her 80s whose daughter cannot bring her to the doctor five minutes down the road because she cannot get her into the car. They have been asked to go to Dún Laoghaire. People from Mayo have to go to Dún Laoghaire for the appeals process. There is no point in their going to the appeals process because in the appeals process they are working off the current criteria, six criteria that we all know they will not meet. There is no point in travelling across the country to Dún Laoghaire to be told you will not get your appeal.
The HSE is carrying out the assessments and the appeals, but this is still with the Department of Finance. My request tonight is as follows. Will the Department of Finance issue interim guidelines to the HSE and the appeals board? We have the two reports. We know the system is failing. We know there is a new system on the way. We hope to have that up and running by January 2027, but the Minister of State and I both know that could roll on until the summer of 2027. God knows what will happen in the world. It could roll on to 2028, and I have constituents who will probably pass away in that time. These are the last years of their lives. Some of them cannot go to the doctor or go down the road. Their children are caring for them. We have to act now. This has been going on almost seven years. Can we please have an interim guideline issued to the appeals board and the HSE in order that they can do something now for the people who have been waiting for years and years?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-20