Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 April 2004
72 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress which has been made on extending the existing free travel system for pensioners to enable them make point-to-point journeys within the Six Counties. [11950/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra104 Mr. O’Shea asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the position regarding the implementation of an all-Ireland free travel scheme for pensioners; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12055/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra111 Mr. Morgan asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she is in regular contact with the Department with responsibility for regional development in regard to an all-Ireland free travel scheme. [11948/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra140 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress which has been made on the development of a card based pass system which will enable all-Ireland free travel. [11946/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 72, 104, 111 and 140 together.
All persons aged 66 years or over who reside in the Republic as well as certain categories of people under that age are entitled to free travel in the South under my Department's free travel scheme. Under the concessionary fares scheme operated by Translink in the North, people aged 65 years and over who live in Northern Ireland are eligible to free travel within the North. Under these existing arrangements, free travel pass holders in Northern Ireland and the Republic can also avail of free cross-Border journeys on bus and rail services.
The programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce a system of all-Ireland free travel for pensioners and other eligible social welfare customer categories. This would enable passholders to make onward journeys free of charge in each jurisdiction. I intend to have this scheme in operation before the end of the Government's term of office.
My Department is co-operating with the Rail Procurement Agency towards the introduction of an integrated public transport ticketing system in the greater Dublin area, for free travel pass holders as well as for the general public. When it becomes operational in 2005-6, this system will involve the use of smart card technology. In developing the All-Ireland free travel scheme, my Department will discuss with the participating transport operators the feasibility of using smart card technology in that context. A similar type of smart card system already operates on Translink services in the North. Each card incorporates a photograph and signature of the pass holder as well as a card expiry date. Card readers on buses and trains ensure that every journey undertaken can be costed accurately and with minimum inconvenience to the customer and the transport operators.
The use of this technology by all the operators who are likely to participate in an all-Ireland free travel scheme, including Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, would be beneficial from an administrative, accounting and control perspective. Officials from my Department have held initial discussions on the all-Ireland free travel scheme with their counterparts in the Department for Regional Development for Northern Ireland. There are a number of policy and operational issues to be resolved in connection with the new scheme, including its resourcing and the options for joint funding. My Department will continue to progress this matter with the Northern authorities this year. However, it is likely to take some time to finalise the various technical issues and agree transport operator contracts and budgetary arrangements for the scheme.
73 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason the Eircom company is allowed to disconnect phone lines for non-payments to users who have phone rental paid for by her Department. [12088/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhere customers are in debt to Eircom due to non-payment of their phone call bills, Eircom has a policy for debt recovery. This can culminate in disconnection of the telephone line in persistent bad debt cases. Customers then have to pay a fee to get reconnected.
In the past, this policy applied equally to social welfare customers in receipt of the telephone allowance, even though my Department was continuing to meet the standing charge element of client bills in these cases through the telephone allowance. Following discussions initiated by my Department, Eircom has agreed to revise its debt management policy regarding defaulting customers who are in receipt of the telephone allowance.
From August 2003, Eircom implemented a new debtor policy on a pilot basis for customers in receipt of the telephone allowance. Since then, any such customers are no longer disconnected but have their outward phone service barred. This restriction, known as outward service barred or OSB, means that they can still receive calls and can make emergency calls but cannot make other outward calls. In this way, customers do not add to the debt already owed to Eircom. This procedure can be invoked by Eircom where the balance on a customer's two monthly bill is over a specified amount.
Eircom has stated to my Department that if this change in policy resulted in a substantial increase in the total amount of arrears outstanding from this particular group of clients, it would consider introducing a limit on the amount of time a customer could remain on outward service barred. Following a recent review of its policy, Eircom has identified that debt levels were increasing for some defaulting telephone allowance recipients. Accordingly, Eircom has informed my Department that it intends to limit the duration that customers can remain on outward service barred to four months. This is in cases where customers refuse to make any repayment towards their outstanding liabilities. As far as my Department is aware, this revised procedure has not yet been implemented by Eircom. Ultimately, the customer debt management policies of Eircom are a commercial matter for that company to determine.
Where people are having difficulty in meeting their liabilities, they can receive free advice on managing their financial affairs and help in dealing with creditors from the monetary advice and budgeting service, MABS, which is operated by my Department. I strongly urge anyone facing this situation to contact their nearest MABS adviser.
