John Ellis
Question:66 Mr. Ellis asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his Department will allow people over 80 years of age who have serious illness problems the facility of having free travel for an accompanying named companion.
Written Answers. - Free Travel Companion Pass.
The free travel companion pass, which I introduced in 1990, is a special version of the free travel pass which enables anyone over 16 years of age to travel free with the pass-holder. The free travel companion pass is intended to meet the situation where a person is entitled to free travel under the free travel scheme but cannot make any real use of the concession because of some disability that prevents him or her from travelling alone.
Companion passes were issued originally to people who were receiving disabled person's allowance and who were certified by their health board to be unable to travel alone. Since then, I have been able to make companion passes available to additional groups of disabled people such as the blind and persons confined to wheel chairs. The question of extending this facility to further categories of disabled people will be considered in the light of available resources.