Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 30 Sep 2003

Vol. 571 No. 1

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

Denis Naughten

Ceist:

1341 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will introduce a travel voucher system to allow elderly people, unable to use scheduled public transport services, to avail of hackneys and taxis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19696/03]

John Bruton

Ceist:

1345 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress in putting in place an all-Ireland free travel scheme for pensioners. [19934/03]

Martin Ferris

Ceist:

1363 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he will extend the free travel scheme for people over 65 years to people from the North. [20262/03]

Finian McGrath

Ceist:

1383 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if free travel can be extended to include people using air travel. [21202/03]

Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mary Coughlan)

It is proposed to take Questions Nos. 1341, 1345, 1366 and 1383 together.

The free travel scheme operated by my Department provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by semi-State companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, as well as services provided by over 80 private transport operators. The scheme also covers air travel to the Aran Islands and Tory Island in certain circumstances.

The vast majority of private contractors providing services under the scheme operate in rural areas. The underlying feature of the scheme is the use of spare capacity on these transport services. I am always willing to consider applications from licensed private transport operators who may wish to participate in the free travel scheme.

There are no plans at present to extend the free travel scheme to include air travel generally. It is possible, of course, for any airline to introduce concessionary fares for specific categories of people, for example pensioners.

A number of alternatives to the existing system, including the use of vouchers, have been examined and it is considered that a voucher type system, which would be open to a wide range of transport providers including taxis and hackneys, would not be feasible. In addition, the use of vouchers is not in keeping with a fundamental aspect of the scheme as originally envisaged; that of using existing spare capacity on public transport.

The principal measure currently under way to address the issue of access to public transport is the rural transport initiative, which is being managed by Area Development Management on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport.

My Department secured €500,000 in the last budget towards the cost of the initiative to ensure that free travel pass holders have full access to these community based transport services.

With regard to cross-border and all-Ireland free travel, the free travel scheme, in conjunction with the Northern Ireland concessionary travel scheme, provides free travel on cross-Border routes for passholders of both jurisdictions. This scheme applies to cross-border journeys and not to travel exclusively within either jurisdiction. Implementation of this scheme, an all-Ireland free travel scheme for pensioners resident in all parts of this island will require detailed discussions and agreements with the relevant authorities and transport providers on both sides of the Border. Preparatory work on this proposal will be commencing shortly.

Significant improvements have been made to the free schemes, including the free travel scheme, in recent budgets both in terms of the qualifying conditions and the coverage of the schemes. I will continue to review the operation of these schemes with a view to identifying the scope for further improvements as resources permit.