Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 March 2023
854. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of people with direct eligibility for free travel under the free travel scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13816/23]
View answer855. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection the average annual cost per pass under the free travel scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13817/23]
View answer857. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of people who would newly qualify for free travel if the free travel scheme were to be extended to all recipients of the carer support grant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13819/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 854, 855 and 857 together.
The Free Travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. The number of people currently with direct eligibility is approx. 1,056,984. Obviously, this number changes regularly. The estimated expenditure on free travel in 2023 is €95 million.
The Free Travel Scheme is not costed on the basis of an average cost per pass but rather on the usage. Therefore, the costing of additional passes is more complex and should take into account the needs of the user, the likely level of usage, the nature of the pass - whether it includes spousal or companion passes, and how extensively they are used - and availability of public transport services. My Department does not keep data on the usage and cost of free travel passes by type and therefore cannot provide an accurate average cost per pass.
Based on figures from the end of February 2023, the number of people who would newly qualify for free travel if the Free Travel Scheme were to be extended to all recipients of the Carer's Support Grant, irrespective of conditions or means, is 27,366.
The cost of extending the Free Travel scheme to those in receipt of the Carer's Support Grant would be very difficult to quantify properly, 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.
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.
The Carer’s Support Grant is an annual payment made to carers who get Carer's Allowance, Carer's Benefit or Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA). It can also be paid to certain other carers providing full-time care. The Carer's Support Grant is therefore not a primary Social Protection payment and is in many cases linked to the payment of other Social Protection payments.
Any decision to extend the Scheme in the manner suggested by the Deputy would have to be considered in the overall budgetary context.
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 helps to clarify the matter for the Deputy.
