Diabetes sufferers pose no greater risk than other drivers, representatives of those with the disease claimed yesterday.
Dr Tony O'Sullivan, incoming chairman of the Diabetes Federation of Ireland, said the organisation planned to write to the Director of Public Prosecution after he took a court action to have a diabetes sufferer banned from driving for life.
On Tuesday a retired Mullingar truck-driver, Mr Thomas McWeeny, received a lifetime ban after he was found driving in a state of hypoglycaemia, a condition that can be caused by diabetes medication. He is to appeal the ban.
However, Dr O'Sullivan said international studies had found that it was extremely rare for people with either form of diabetes to suffer a hypoglycaemic incident.
Hypoglycemia occurs when blood sugar levels become extremely low and can be a side-effect associated with taking insulin. Symptoms include dizziness, shivering and confusion.
Such incidents are extremely rare while driving, according to Dr O'Sullivan, who has Type 1 diabetes. "People with Type 2 diabetes are at no higher risk of having an accident," he said.
"The research suggests that, for a person with Type 1 diabetes using insulin, there is a risk of it occurring once every 140 years or after 10 million miles. This low risk is reflected in the fact that insurance companies do not load against diabetes sufferers."
Dr O'Sullivan said the ban was indicative of wider discrimination against diabetes sufferers, including bars on joining the Defence Forces or the Garda.
Specific incidents, according to Dr O'Sullivan, include a marine scientist who is not allowed work on the State-owned marine vessel and a hairdresser who was dismissed from a job on a ferry because she had contracted diabetes. There are 20,000 people in Ireland with Type 1 diabetes, which is treated with insulin. A further 200,000 have Type 2, which sufferers tend to develop in middle age.