Vol. 551 No. 2
383 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if he will consider placing photographs on free travel passes to deal with both attempted impersonation and fraud which is increasingly being attempted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10100/02]
The free travel pass issued by my Department does not contain a photograph of the customer. However, it is long-standing practice that passholders resident in the main urban centres must obtain a subsidiary photo-identity card from CIE in order to use CIE Group services in those areas. This identity card is obtainable by free travel clients at CIE offices in exchange for a tear-off voucher attached to the pass. The cost of this is met by the Department.
Any misuse of the free travel pass by ineligible persons results in a loss to the transport operators by way of lost fares and the Department supports any initiative to address this. There are no immediate plans to implement a system of photo-identity travel passes directly, though this position is being kept under review in the context of the development of policy in relation to public service cards generally. Developments in other jurisdictions in this regard will also be taken into account. In the meantime my Department supports in principle the development by transport operators of more secure arrangements to prevent or detect any misuse, and is supportive of recent moves in this regard by the CIE Group in particular.
