It would be no harm to have a performance development review for some Ministers.
Adjournment Debate. - Free Travel Scheme.
The public will decide that.
The Minister for Social Welfare, Deputy De Rossa, must be worried about the results of the recent poll. Is it any wonder when we consider the paltry 2.5 per cent increase which he gave in the budget?
We have 100 per cent support from supporters of Democratic Left.
The so-called extension of the free travel scheme is another miserable effort by him to promote himself. I wish to share time with Deputy Walsh.
The Minister for Finance indicated in his budget speech that it was intended to extend the free travel scheme to those in the North. We welcomed that as it was an issue which we would have brought forward had we introduced the budget this year. The Minister for Social Welfare stated that this scheme will operate from 1 July. I welcomed that as did many of those who live in my constituency. However, my inquiries indicate that the Northern authorities refused to increase the subvention to Ulster Bus and the Northern Ireland Railway Board to enable pensioners travel from the South to the North. It would appear that both Ministers either announced this scheme without consulting with the Northern authorities or that the Northern authorities told them they did not intend to increase the subvention or participate in the scheme. If my information is correct, that is an appalling reaction from the Northern and UK authorities, particularly in light of the peace process.
Apart from consulting the Northern authorities, did the Department consult with any of the pensioner groups? I do not believe it did. The pensioner groups wonder what is happening. Apparently a pensioner from the North can travel to only one destination in the Republic. They do not enjoy unlimited travel as do our pensioners, subject to a few conditions. A pensioner from the south can travel only to one destination in the North.
The Minister put this scheme forward without doing his homework. Shame on him for misleading the public.
I thank Deputy Ahern for sharing his time with me. It was with some alarm that I read the Minister for Social Welfare's press release in which he stated that this scheme did not amount to very much. This came as a great disappointment to many people who regard the free travel scheme introduced by Mr. Haughey in 1967 as generous and imaginative. It gave elderly people mobility and enhanced their quality of life. For example, pensioners living on off-shore islands were entitled to six free trips per annum on the ferries and aeroplanes travelling to and from the mainland.
The scheme is now being confined to one trip to a specific destination, in other words, a person from the North who wishes to spend a day in Killarney while visiting Glengarriff in west Cork will have to hitch into Killarney and back to Glengarriff. This is a mean-spirited and badly thought out decision and there has been no consultation with the Northern authorities. If there is to be one benefit from the peace process it should be that elderly people can travel freely throughout the island. Elderly people in the North should be able to avail of the unlimited free access to travel available to pensioners in the South. I call on the Minister to extend the scheme so that elderly people living in the North can enjoy the same concessions under the free travel scheme as those enjoyed by pensioners in the South.
The cost of the improvements in social welfare schemes called for by Fianna Fáil in recent months would amount to an additional £300 million.
The Minister was not behind the door in calling for similar improvements when he was on this side of the House.
It is extraordinary to think that this is the same party which, out of the other side of its mouth, claims we are spending too much money. Both Deputies have got it wrong. I welcome the opportunity they have given to me to again put on the record the important new initiative in regard to free cross-Border travel.
The Government decided, in the context of the 1995 budget, to extend free travel to cover pensioners in Northern Ireland and the Republic undertaking cross-Border journeys. I am very pleased that it has fallen to me, as Minister for Social Welfare, to implement this very important development at a very opportune time in our history. It is my firm wish, and that of the Government, that this initiative will encourage cross-Border travel and will make a worthwhile contribution to the further development of the peace and reconciliation process on this island by bringing people from both sides of the Border together on a much more frequent, open and friendly basis.
Speaking in this House on the day following the budget I expressed my hope that we could reach agreement with our Northern Ireland counterparts on the implementation of this initiative. I am very pleased to say that we have received every possible co-operation from the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland and from the transport authorities there.
Except money.
The Minister has limited time and there should be no interruptions.
Since the initiative was announced, much hard work has gone on North and South to get this initiative up and running as quickly as possible. Key personnel with the major transport operators responded magnificently to the challenge. Officials of my Department are currently finalising the administrative and operational arrangements which will underpin the new scheme with the operators who will participate in it. They are also liaising closely with their colleagues in the Department of the Environment in Belfast. I would like to take this opportunity to put on record my appreciation of the valuable advice, assistance and other facilities which the Northern Department has provided. I would also like to thank the transport operators who have spared no effort to ensure that the new arrangements can be implemented by the 1 July target date.
Arrangements are well in hand to enable the cross-Border travel scheme to commence on 1 July next. This means that free cross-Border travel will be available to more than 650,000 people, North and South, from that date. The scheme will apply to some 467,000 holders of free travel passes issued by my Department and their accompanying spouses. In the case of people holding a companion free travel pass, it will also cover the companion's travel when travelling with the passholder.
In the case of residents of Northern Ireland, the scheme will apply to some 192,000 people who hold concession travel passes under a scheme operated by the Department of the Environment there. All of these will be entitled to undertake cross-Border journeys free of charge by bus or rail. When the final details are settled the scheme will be fully publicised.
The arrangements now being put in place are fully in line with the Government decision on this matter. The intention was to facilitate cross-Border travel and this is being achieved under the new scheme. It is intended that this will be achieved by "through-ticketing" arrangements which will enable those qualified to complete a journey from any point in one jurisdiction to any point in the other free of charge.
The Minister did not tell us that at the start.
That is the restriction.
The Minister without interruption, please.
As I have already indicated, the administrative and operational arrangements which will underpin the new scheme are being finalised at present. These include the financial arrangements which will apply.
The scheme will be funded in full by my Department. While the financial arrangements have still to be finalised, it has been agreed that the liability in respect of Northern passholders will be confined to what the passholder would otherwise have to pay in respect of the journey in Northern Ireland. Under the Northern Ireland concession travel scheme passholders in Northern Ireland generally enjoy a 50 per cent rebate on their fares. Full credit will be given for these rebates where applicable to journeys under the new scheme.
A sum of £200,000 has been set aside to meet the costs of the new scheme in 1995. I visited Northern Ireland last Monday and Saturday and on the previous Monday and on each occasion the representatives of pensioners told me they were delighted with the scheme.
That is not what they said to me.
The scheme has been widely welcomed by pensioners and their representatives both here and in Northern Ireland as an imaginative initiative and there is widespread confidence that the objectives to which I referred earlier will be achieved.
The Minister has slipped into Department-speak very easily.
All the Deputies opposite have are hobbyhorses.
The Dáil adjourned at 9.10 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 24 May 1995.