Vol. 474 No. 3
206 Mr. M. Kitt asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will amend the free travel scheme to allow those eligible to use private transport and taxis in rural areas where public transport is not available or suitable; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2828/97]
The free travel scheme operated by my Department is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over as well as to certain incapacitated people under that age who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments. The purpose of the scheme is to encourage such people to remain active in the community by providing them with access to spare capacity on a range of services provided by the CIE group of companies as well by 56 private transport operators who also participate in the scheme.
My Department is willing to consider further applications from licensed private transport operators who may wish to participate in the free travel scheme. I have no plans, however, to extend the free travel scheme to include taxi services. Such an extension would have major cost implications which would have to be considered in the light of available resources.
