The National Commission Persons with Disability, and the Police are working to curb abuse of the blue card used by motorists having disabilities.

Anne-Marie Callus, chairman of the commission, said there had been reports of persons forging blue cards (also known as blue badges) and other instances where relatives continued to use the blue cards even when the real holders passed away.

There were 1,514 applications for blue cards last year, of which only 126 were not recommended by the commission to the police.

Ms Callus said the high number applications stemmed from the fact that the population was getting older, but older persons wanted to remain mobile.

There are currently 5,850 blue card holders.

No figures on abusive use of the blue cards were available.

Ms Callus, who was announcing the commission's annual report, said that one of the major areas the commission is working on is the inclusion of more persons with disability in the labour sector. Substantial progress had been made in this area, not least because technology enabled persons with disability to carry out more varied work.

She added, however, that the commission wanted to see a system of certification of competence for persons with disabilities so that it would be easier for potential employers to have confidence in them.