What is the Primary Medical Certificate!

"The Primary Medical Certificate is issued by the HSE and certifies that a person is severely disabled and or permanently disabled for the purposes of the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Regulation 1994"

In this post, I wanted to talk more about the Primary Medical Certificate more importantly what the process is like, what to expect and what to be aware of.

The first step is to apply to your local HSE clinic to request an application form to be sent out to your home. Once you receive the application fill it out the next is to have it stamped and signed by your GP and then send it back * making sure to state if the disabled person will be the driver or the passenger - as this is very important when applying to revenue when you want to purchase a car and have it adapted to suit*.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

The next step is to simply wait for an appointment to be sent out where you will be given a date and time where the PMC officer will have to visit your home and finish the assessment. (In my experience it was over fairly quickly once the lady had seen that my house was made fully accessible for my needs etc - please also note that it may take a little longer for the application process to be completed depending on each individuals case - where an extra step would be to perhaps get a letter from their OT detailing the individuals' disability and why they should be entitled to the PM certificate so that a car can be bought to assist with the disabled persons overall care be it as the Disabled driver or Passenger.

If in some cases your application has been refused you can appeal this decision by contacting the Disabled Drivers Board of Appeal at the following address

Disabled Drivers Board of Appeal

National Rehabilitation Hospital

Roches town Avenue

Dun Laoighaire

Co. Dublin

For more information on the Primary Medical Certificate and the disabled drivers and passengers scheme, you can click the link below.

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/transport_and_disability/tax_relief_for_disabled_drivers_and_disabled_passengers.html

Disability Allowance - What to know!

What is it? What are the criteria? How do you qualify?

The disability allowance is a weekly allowance that is paid to people with a disability. This type of payment is made available to people with disabilities from the age of 16 years of age.

What are the rules?

In order to qualify for this type of payment allowance, you must meet the following criteria

· Have an injury, disease, or physical or mental disability that has continued or is expected to continue past a certain length of time.

· Must be substantially restricted as a result of their disability in undertaking work that would be suitable for a person of their age (able-bodied person).

· Must be aged between 16 and 66 - when you reach 66 you no longer qualify but instead can be assessed for a state pension.

· Must satisfy the means-testing criteria.

· Must satisfy the habitual residence condition.

What is Residential Care: If you are receiving the disability allowance and are admitted to a hospital or a residential care facility, you will continue to receive your payment as long as you still meet the qualifying conditions. If you were not in receipt of this payment before living in residential care you are able to qualify for this allowance once you meet the criteria and conditions to qualify.

What does it mean to be Means-tested: As the DA is a means-tested payment it is a necessary step in qualifying for this payment? In order to qualify the total income amount is assessed to ensure that they are below a certain amount. The main items that are looked at include:

· Cash income of your spouse, civil partner, or cohabitant may have.

· Capital - the value of savings, investments, shares, or any property you may own (other than your current house)

· Any Maintenance paid to you.

· Living with your parents - Your parents’ income is not taken into account when you are assessed for Disability Allowance.

Please note that while the criteria, rules, and conditions are essential in this process there may be in some cases that may require further steps or conditions in order to qualify upon my experience I would really recommend having a chat with your OT or Care worker to see if there is anything further that they can do or who to contact or what the best port of action would be to make sure that yourself or the person that you are assisting with this is made fully aware of what things are and are not available to them in terms of entitlements, grants, special needs assistants and other allowances.

You can access an application form for the Disability Allowance from the Department of Social Protection.

For more information on this topic and to find out more I would suggest checking out the citizen information website

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/disability_and_illness/disability_allowance.html