The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over. It is also available to carers and people with disabilities who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments. Time restrictions on the free travel scheme have been a feature of the scheme since its inception. They do not, however, apply in the case of people with learning disabilities, people attending long-term rehabilitation courses or certain work experience programmes and certain other disabled or blind people. These people are issued with an unrestricted free travel pass which enables them to travel during the normally restricted travel times.
The central issue in regard to time restrictions is that of capacity constraints and in recognition of the pressure of the transport system from commuters travelling to and from work and school in the morning and evening. There are no peak time travel restrictions on DART, suburban rail services, and on services provided by private transport operators in other parts of the country. Any general lifting of the time restrictions could cause capacity problems for transport operators. In exceptional or extenuating circumstances, however, where hospital appointments cannot be arranged out of peak travel time, my Department can issue a temporary unrestricted free travel pass. Requests for such passes can only be considered on a case by case basis and passes are only granted in very exceptional circumstances. The operation of the free travel scheme is kept under review with a view to identifying the scope for further improvements where circumstances allow.