I propose to take Questions Nos. 67 and 103 together.
The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over. It is also available to carers and to people with disabilities who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments.
The issue of extending the free travel scheme to non-resident pensioners was examined in the review of the free schemes which was published by the policy institute, Trinity College, Dublin, in 2000. The review considered that the main objective of the free travel scheme is to encourage older people and people with disabilities to remain independent and active within the community, thereby reducing the need for institutional care. It noted that extending the scheme to Irish pensioners living abroad who visit Ireland would have significant administrative and cost implications even if it was confined to those in receipt of Irish social welfare pensions. In 2000, it was estimated that the extension of the free travel scheme to EU pensioners could incur expenditure of the order of €10 million to €19 million, depending on the level of concession granted.
However, one of the issues for consideration is article 12 of the EC treaty which contains a general prohibition on discrimination on grounds of nationality. In other words, a member state cannot treat its own nationals more favourably than nationals from other member states. This may mean that it if the scheme were extended along the lines suggested, it would have to be extended to all pensioners who are EU nationals coming to Ireland for temporary stays. Extending the free travel scheme to all retired citizens of the European Union would not be in keeping with the objectives of the scheme.
It must also be borne in mind that any bilateral or multilateral arrangement would need to have the following elements at least: reciprocity — travel concessions for eligible visitors coming to Ireland would have to be reciprocated in the case of eligible people from Ireland going abroad; appropriate identification procedures — an internationally recognised travel pass would have to be introduced, issued by the country of main residence, for identification purposes; and cost sharing — arrangements for sharing the costs between countries would have to be worked out.
I am mindful that this matter has been raised in the House a number of times recently and I am continuing my examination of the issues involved.