Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I give no apology for returning to this. Other Members have raised the issue. The last time the Minister spoke on this issue he stated it was not financial, but legal considerations that was holding it up.

Although I am not a legal expert and I realise the Minister has spoken to the Attorney General about this, a reply to a parliamentary question tabled in the European Parliament to the Commission stated:

It is up to each Member State to decide whether it wants to grant free access to some public services, such as public transport, to the elderly. But if it chooses to do this, EC law...requires it to grant such a free access in a non-discriminatory way to all EU nationals complying with the same conditions applicable to nationals.

My understanding of this is the Commission stated that this hinges on whether they are receiving an Irish pension. My colleague, Ms Mary Lou McDonald, on 1 February 2006, raised the same question. The reply stated:

EU law would not prevent the Irish Government from granting a free travel pass to pensioners who receive a pension from Ireland but reside outside Ireland. However, EU law does require that if the free travel scheme was to be extended in such a way it would have to be non-discriminatory and would have to be available to all beneficiaries of an Irish pension regardless of their nationality.

My contention is that if 31,852 people living in Britain and the North and 917 living in the EU are receiving an Irish pension, the figures for which the Minister issued on the last occasion, and if it is not a financial consideration, it seems the problem is that this would open it to all those who get the pension. If it is any help, I can give the Minister the replies from the Commission. If that is the position, I do not understand why the Minister cannot move ahead on it.

While the Minister stated he was watching and listening to what would happen in the British system under the British Chancellor, Mr. Gordon Brown MP, my view is that we should move ahead on this. If it is a matter not of financial but of legal considerations, it seems the only grounds are that they are receiving an Irish pension. If that is the position and the Minister is agreeable to do this, he should go ahead and do so.

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