Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2018
1208. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the status of the €10 million allocated to the free travel scheme as outlined in budget 2018; the amount of the €10 million allocation that has been spent; the way in which the funds have been spent; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24316/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe free travel scheme permits free travel on most CIE public transport services, Luas and a range of services offered by some 80 private operators in various parts of the country for those eligible under the scheme. The free travel scheme is available to all people aged over 66 living permanently in the State. Applicants who are under age 66 must be in receipt of a qualifying payment in order to qualify for the scheme and permanently living in the State.
There are currently 914,073 customers in receipt of Free Travel.
In making the extra provision for free travel in Budget 2018, the Government was anxious to broaden the free travel scheme and make it more accessible to those in rural Ireland in particular. We wanted to see more private commercial operators joining the scheme for the first time, existing participants adding more routes and operators returning to the scheme where they had previously withdrawn.
Additionally, private operators are compensated directly by the Department, to a level which equates to approximately 70% of the estimated average fare charged by these operators to full fare paying passengers. In order to ensure that private commercial bus operators are being fairly compensated the Department requests relevant companies to conduct passenger surveys. Based on survey results the Department makes adjustments to payments to private operators to ensure adequate compensation is provided, and the additional Budgetary allocation facilitates that.
Finally, the additional Budgetary provision also allowed for the arrangements for Bus Éireann - Expressway to be brought into line with those of other commercial operators participating in the scheme. The discount applied on free travel payments to Bus Éireann- Expressway was reduced from 40% to 30%, putting Bus Éireann - Expressway on an equal footing with other commercial operators participating in the free travel scheme.
A total of €35 million was spent on the free travel scheme up to the end of May 2018.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
