Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2020
31. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will engage with the private bus operators and the National Transport Authority with a view to applying the free-travel scheme on all publicly licensed bus routes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25065/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraFor many decades the free-travel scheme has been of great benefit to a substantial cohort of our population. By and large persons in receipt of a pension payment are eligible for free travel on public transport and in more recent years on the Local Link services. Unfortunately in too many instances, customers of transport services operated by private carriers are not able to avail of the free-travel pass and that needs to be changed. In many cases more services could be provided in rural areas if those operators were able to avail of the free-travel scheme.
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The free-travel scheme is currently available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over, to carers and to customers under 66 who are in receipt of certain disability-type payments. Approximately 978,770 customers are in receipt of free travel. However, over 1.6 million people currently benefit from the scheme when companion and spousal passes are taken into account.
The scheme allows those eligible to travel for free on most CIÉ public transport services, Luas and a range of services offered by up to 80 private operators.
Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, requests by transport operators to join the scheme were received periodically, with payment rates negotiated based on surveys of free-travel passengers.
Due to the continuing impact of Covid-19 measures and restrictions on transport service provision, the uncertainty around numbers opting to travel and the consequential lack of reliable survey data, it is a difficult time for operators to enter the scheme. Survey outcomes in the current operating environment are unlikely to reflect true free-travel passenger numbers in more normal times. The situation is kept under constant review and it is expected that as restrictions ease and services return to more normal levels, new operators will join the scheme.
Over the past ten years the annual cost to the Exchequer of the free-travel scheme has risen by 29% to €95 million. Of this, €1.5 million is provided to the rural transport programme, improving links between local or rural services and scheduled bus and rail services.
Any decision to extend the free-travel scheme to include all publicly licensed bus routes would have cost implications for the Exchequer and would have to be considered in the context of overall budget availability.
I thank the Minister for her reply. I am glad she said it would be kept under constant review. While I recognise that with the Covid pandemic additional services will not be coming on stream because of uncertainty over the use of services, the Minister's answer clearly demonstrates the importance of the scheme. It is a very good €95 million investment in people, in human resources. With 980,000 direct customers and 1.6 million able to avail of the scheme, it is clear how important it is.
Some time ago I read documentation in which Irish Rural Link and other organisations that are strong advocates for development in rural areas estimated that up to 80% of the people living in rural areas who qualify for free travel are unable to use that free-travel pass because the services are not available. We need to achieve a broadening of public transport to ensure that at least some limited services would be available for people living in remote areas and that they should not be denied the opportunity to use their free-travel pass when a public service is available.
The Minister knows as well as I do that some services would not be viable if they did not have access to the free-travel scheme. It needs to be expanded and we need to eliminate the discrimination against the rural population.
I thank the Deputy. He made a valid point about rural transport. I would be standing for a long time at the end of my lane before a bus would go past - there is no bus.
The rural transport programme provides services to people whose travel needs are not met by scheduled bus or train services. I think the Deputy will agree that the Local Link company covering Cavan and Monaghan is one of the best in the country. It has continually added to the service it has provided over the years. It is a top-class service that provides transport to people in remote rural parts of Cavan and Monaghan and helps bring them into the towns.
The Deputy is right in saying the rural transport programme plays a major role in combatting rural isolation and it acts as a catalyst in creating models of partnership at all levels where key sectors actively engage in transport provision to ensure equality of access for all. Services funded under the programme complement rather than compete with existing public transport services provided by CIÉ companies or private transport operators.
There are currently 400 operators in the rural transport programme providing transport services under direct contract with the NTA.
I thank the Minister for her reply and I agree with her last point. I know of one operator that operates a substantial service covering a very large rural area, including a number of smaller towns and villages. The owner told me that were it not for the fact that he was deemed eligible to offer customers the free travel facility, his service would not be viable. I understand that the conditions applied by the NTA and the Department are too restrictive for private carriers seeking access to the scheme in respect of a particular route. As we prepare for a post-Covid future, there must be a greater acceptance of the value of the private carrier operating a public service and we must ensure those operators have access to the free travel scheme. The scheme can make the difference in whether a service is provided or not provided. Unfortunately, we may face a situation in rural Ireland where services are lost in some towns and villages and people have to travel further, whether for medical appointments or routine business. We want to ensure that people living in remote areas who do not have their own private transport and may not have immediate family members to take them a distance for shopping or other business have the opportunity, within reason, to avail of a public transport service.
The Deputy is absolutely right that the free travel scheme is hugely important to people in many communities. I see it often in Cootehill on a Friday morning when the Local Link bus service brings people into the town to do their shopping and meet up with friends. Unfortunately, that type of activity is somewhat changed in the Covid environment.
The extent and adequacy of public transport service provision, both urban and rural, fall under the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I will be glad to bring the Deputy's concerns regarding rural transport to the Minister's attention. Like Deputy Smith, I am very much aware of instances where people cannot use their free travel pass on services run by private operators which pass by their own home.
