Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 December 2012
300. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to continue to provide free travel to those currently eligible into the future and to implement measures to better ascertain usage of this service such as a swipe card. [52666/12]
View answer301. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to work with her counterparts in the Stormont Assembly to have free travel passes recognised on a cross-Border basis in view of the fact that currently a person eligible for free travel going to Belfast from Dublin would need to buy a ticket crossing the Border and vice versa for someone travelling from Belfast. [52667/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 300 and 301 together.
The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over, to carers and to people who are in receipt of certain disability type payments. There are currently in excess of 745,000 customers eligible for free travel and when spousal and companion passes are taken into account, there are over 1.1 million customers with some free travel eligibility. The scheme provides free travel on the main public services such as Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Irish Rail and Luas as well as services provided by over 90 private operators. The previous Government froze expenditure on this scheme in 2010 and it has remained at almost €76 million since then.
My Department is currently rolling out a public services card that will be used to access all social welfare entitlements. The card will act as a key for access to public services in general, identifying and authenticating individuals as appropriate and where required. A variant of the public services card will be issued to free travel customers which can be scanned or read electronically on the public transport network through the integrated ticketing scheme environment or as a pass that can be shown to the bus driver. A pilot of the public services card using the free travel variant is currently being developed in the Department for roll-out next year. This will facilitate the collection of more complete data on the operation of the scheme.
The cross-border free travel scheme has been in place since July 1995, initially facilitating cross-border bus or rail journeys free of charge between the two jurisdictions. Since April 2007, the all-Ireland free travel scheme enables all seniors resident in all parts of the island to travel free of charge on bus, rail, air and ferry services participating in the travel schemes in both jurisdictions.
There are considerable challenges ahead to protect, as far as possible, the key income supports provided by my Department which impact in some way on the lives of almost every person in the State. As part of the deliberative process for the budget, my Department reviews all schemes. Any changes will be announced in the upcoming Budget.
An interdepartmental review for the free travel scheme is currently being carried out with a view to ensuring that the scheme operates in a sustainable and cost effective manner. I appreciate that the free travel scheme has played a major role in preventing the social isolation of elderly people in Ireland, but it is important to review the operation of it to ensure that it continues to be fit for purpose. The review is in the early stages.
