I propose to take Questions Nos. 598 to 601, inclusive, together.
The free travel scheme permits free travel on most CIE public transport services, Luas and a range of services offered by over 90 private operators in various parts of the country at a cost to the exchequer of some €75.6 million in 2012. My Department also provides limited funding of some €1.5 million for the Rural Transport Programme (RTP) but organisation and development of the service is the responsibility of the Department of Transport and Pobal. A breakdown of the individual components in set out in Table 1 below.
The Department pays the CIE Group centrally in respect of transport services provided nationwide by the Group and the apportionment of payment between the three constituent companies, Bus Eireann, Bus Átha Cliath and Iarnród Eireann is a matter for the CIE Group to determine.
In relation to CIE, rather than carrying out specific surveys of usage, the Department moved many years ago to a service model based on the transportation infrastructure and the introduction of new services e.g. DART, LUAS and removal of the restrictions on free travel during peak hours. At each stage, the Department has negotiated rates and discounts to reflect these developments. Payments for LUAS were calculated on the basis of ridership and ticket survey information while the payments to private operators were based on fares foregone.
Details of Payment to CIE, Private Operators, Pobal and Luas - 2007 to 2012:
|
2012
|
2011
|
2010
|
2009
|
2008
|
2007
|
CIE
|
€61,201,720
|
€61,358,000
|
€61,369,045
|
€61,200,000
|
€56,461,729
|
€52,576,856
|
Private Operators
|
€7,411,480
|
€7,675,000
|
€7,246,163
|
€6,227,308
|
€6,365,937
|
€5,526,210
|
POBAL
|
€1,500,000
|
€1,500,000
|
€1,500,000
|
€1,500,000
|
€1,500,000
|
€1,500,000
|
Luas
|
€3,862,457
|
€3,907,500
|
€2,848,383
|
€3,568,377
|
€2,749,855
|
€2,917,001
|
An Inter-Departmental Working Group has been established to carry out a review of the current free travel scheme. This group is comprised of officials from the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the National Transport Authority. The terms of reference for the review are comprehensive and encompass all aspects of the scheme. The work of the group is at an advanced stage and I expect to have their report by the end of the year.
The new public services card will include a contactless chip, similar to the Leap Card, to communicate with the integrated ticketing system. It will enable more detailed statistics to be collected in relation to the number of passengers travelling and the frequency of that travel. Specific details on the reporting information available is still under consideration and will be finalised as part of the overall project.