The Free Travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are over one million customers with direct eligibility. The estimated expenditure on free travel in 2023 is €95 million.
Providing an accurate projection of the cost of extending the Free Travel scheme to those who have a long-term illness card is very difficult as the cost is determined by the usage of the extra passes provided and not by the number of newly qualified people. The cost of the measure would also depend on the type of free travel pass issued and the duration any such pass is issued for.
Furthermore, my Department does not hold data on the number of people who have a long-term illness card or how many of this cohort already have a free travel pass.
Therefore, my Department is not able to provide an accurate estimate cost of the measure outlined by the Deputy.
It is important to note that, in general, access to a free travel pass for those aged under 66 is a secondary benefit linked to a person being in receipt of certain primary Social Protection payments such as Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Carer’s Allowance, Blind Pension and Partial Capacity Benefit.
Extending the eligibility of the free travel scheme to the cohort of people the Deputy has suggested would change the nature of the scheme and would require additional funding and administrative staff for the free travel scheme and would have to be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations.
Finally, the Department of Social Protection provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who have an urgent need, which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers and include help towards recurring travel costs that cannot be met from the person's own resources and are deemed to be necessary.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
