Gary Gannon
Question:151. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection if she plans to expand the free travel scheme for Budget 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35392/21]
View answerThursday, 1 July 2021
Questions (151)
Written answers
The free travel scheme provides free travel on public transport services for those eligible under the scheme. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, as well as Luas and services provided by over 80 private transport operators. There are currently approximately 999,000 customers with direct eligibility with an annual allocation of €95 million. People who are eligible for a free travel pass are those residents in Ireland aged over 66, those in receipt of certain social welfare payments, or those who satisfy the visual impairment condition for the blind pension. Customers of the scheme who are married, cohabiting or in a civil partnership receive a pass that allows their spouse / civil partner / cohabitant to travel with them for free. Certain incapacitated customers can get a companion pass which allows any person over age 16 years to accompany them for free. The Department of Social Protection is responsible for the administration of the Free Travel Scheme. The Scheme is non-statutory, having been introduced and extended by Ministerial Announcement. Decisions in relation to applications for non-statutory schemes are made by officers of the Department based on published guidelines setting out the conditions of entitlement in detail. The scale, extent and adequacy of public transport service provision, urban and rural, fall under the remit of my colleague Minister Eamonn Ryan at the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications.If the free travel scheme was to be extended to certain groups or cohorts not in receipt of qualifying social welfare payments but based on a medical condition, a medical assessment process would be required, significantly changing the nature of the scheme. Any decision to change the eligibility criteria of the free travel scheme along such lines would have significant costs and require additional administrative processes to be put in place. Accordingly, it could only be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations. The Government will finalise its consideration of the Budget in the coming months having regard to all of its commitments. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Question No. 152 answered with Question No. 128.