The free travel scheme is available to all persons in the State aged 66 years or over and also to certain people with disabilities under that age who are in receipt of certain welfare type payments. In addition, widows and widowers between the age of 60 and 65 whose late spouses had entitlement to free travel retain that entitlement. The scheme provides free travel, primarily at off-peak periods, to eligible people on the main public and private transport services. At the end of last January, about 505,000 people qualified for free travel at an annual cost of £33 million.
There are more than 95,000 persons in receipt of a social welfare widow's or widower's pensions. Free travel passes have been issued to almost 75,000 widows and widowers at a cost of £5 million per annum. This includes an estimated 2,100 people in receipt of free travel based on their late spouse's entitlement. However, it is not known how many of these passes are in use. The cost of extending free travel to all widows and widowers over the age of 60, regardless of the source of their income, is estimated at more than £5.5 million.