CHANGES TO the way parking permits for the disabled are issued are to be implemented in order to counter fraud.
Following a review of the Disabled Parking Scheme, applicants will in future be assessed on their level of mobility instead of their disability.
Eligibility for the scheme will no longer be determined by GPs but will instead be undertaken by decisionmakers within the issuing authorities: the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Disabled Drivers’ Association of Ireland.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey approved the recommendations for amendment of the scheme. “These and the other recommendations of the review will be implemented by my department and the issuing authorities between now and the end of 2010 through revised regulations.
“The new disabled drivers’ permits will also incorporate improved anti-fraud measures to ensure that disabled parking bays in our towns and cities are available to those most in need of them,” he said.
The review recommends that medical eligibility criteria be revised to focus more on a person’s level of mobility impairment rather than the type of disability they have, and that the cardiac and respiratory criteria be limited to include only those for whom walking even short distances is extremely difficult.
However, primary medical certificate holders and those registered as blind will continue to be exempt from medical assessment in qualifying for the permit.
A right of review of decisions on eligibility for the parking permit is to be introduced.
The review also aims to ensure that more specific disabled parking bays are available to those most in need of them.
Michael Doyle, director of advocacy with the Irish Wheelchair Association, said the changes would help ensure that parking permits were issued only to those with mobility issues. “There have been isolated incidents where people were taking advantage of the parking permits which have become a more and more valued item due to the increase of [paid] on-street parking.”
Other key recommendations from the review include:
New measures to reduce the fraudulent use of permits;
An increase in the size of some types of parking bays and the introduction of new types of disabled parking bays;
New set-down and pick-up-only disabled spaces.