Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 November 2014
163. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 130 of 18 November 2014, if she will provide details of the estimated cost of extending the free travel scheme to epilepsy sufferers, who do not currently qualify for free travel and whose drivers' licences have been surrendered until they have gone a year without a seizure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45016/14]
View answerThere are currently approximately 800,000 people in receipt of free travel at an annual cost of €77 million per annum.
The free travel scheme is available to all people aged over 66 living permanently in the State. Applicants who are under age 66, including those with epilepsy and other long-term medical conditions, must be in receipt of a qualifying payment in order to qualify for the scheme. The qualifying payments for those aged under 66 are invalidity pension, blind pension, disability allowance, carer’s allowance or an equivalent social security payment from a country covered by EC Regulations or one with which Ireland has a Bilateral Social Security Agreement.
Any decision to extend the scheme to persons who are not in receipt of a primary qualifying payment would have budgetary consequences and would have to be considered in the context of budget negotiations.
The following information was provided under Standing Order 40A
My Department does not hold the information requested by the Deputy [on the estimated cost of extending the free travel scheme to epilepsy sufferers, who do not currently qualify for free travel and whose drivers' licences have been surrendered until they have gone a year without a seizure].
While some people with epilepsy who are unable to work may be able to apply for a disability type payment, such as disability allowance, illness benefit or invalidity pension, the Department does not maintain records of the specific medical conditions which qualify a person for receipt of a payment in a manner which would allow for the aggregation of medical data. The situation is the same for people who may apply for a payment and are refused, either on the basis of their medical condition or on a means test. Additionally, the Department would have no data whatsoever regarding people with epilepsy who have not applied for any social protection payment.
As the Department has no data on the number of epilepsy sufferers who do not currently qualify for free travel and whose drivers' licences have been surrendered until they have gone a year without a seizure, I am not in a position to estimate the cost of extending the free travel scheme to those people.
