It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 117, 122 and 127 together.
The free schemes administered by my Department include free travel, free electricity allowance, free natural gas allowance, free telephone rental allowance and free television licence. They are available in the case of free travel to all persons in the State, aged 66 years and over, and to certain disabled people under age 66 and, in the case of the other schemes, to persons who are in receipt of a welfare-type payment and who are either living alone or who otherwise satisfy the living alone condition.
The free schemes are intended to serve specific purposes in relation to the people who are entitled to them. Free travel is intended to encourage the elderly or disabled to remain active in the community, while the free electricity allowance, free natural gas allowance, free telephone rental allowance and the free television licence schemes are designed to encourage elderly or disabled people who are living alone, on limited means, to continue to live in their homes and to provide them with an element of security.
The annual cost of the free schemes is of the order of £90 million. Improvements and enhancements of those schemes are considered in the light of perceived need and the availability of additional financial resources. Consequently, the extension of the existing schemes to groups of recipients not already covered, such as widows, widowers, and those on public service occupational sickness pensions, would have to be considered in that context.