Posted 28.05.2020

Following Minister Mallon's announcement regarding the extension of driving licences (published on 26th May 2020), Disability Action want to highlight the risk to public safety. 

In 2019, 16% of Driver Vehicle Agency (DVA) assessments referred to Disability Action’s Mobility Centre concluded in a withdrawal of the licence.  This percentage is higher in cases where dementia is the diagnosis - up to 20%.  

Mobility Centre Manager, Angela Hutchison, states that "No assessments have taken place since March 2020 due to social distancing restrictions, creating a backlog, and the longer assessments are deferred the greater the risk of a serious driving related incident."

Disability Action intend to monitor the situation closely and urge the Department for Infrastructure to, as a very minimum, not extend this provision beyond 31 August 2020.

Read the Minister's full statement.