Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The issue emerged not because of a change in Government policy but because the Opposition felt it could take advantage of a pre-budget submission released by Age Action Ireland two weeks ago. Age Action Ireland is there to protect the elderly and to lobby the Government on issues that may affect it. It is entitled to do so but the elderly people in our society should not be taken advantage of for some game of political football that the Opposition wants to play. As the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection pointed out, the free travel scheme has been protected by this Government in the past three budgets even though there was a need for a reduction in overall welfare expenditure. Some 780,000 people are availing of free travel and it is hugely important. There is untold value to the hundreds of thousands of people who avail of it and it is insincere of the Opposition to create fear unnecessarily.

Two weeks ago, I had a telephone call from a gentleman who had been reading the newspapers and wanted reassurance that nothing would happen to his free travel card. I reassured him and I spoke to him again two days ago, after he had gone from one end of the town to the other on a bus because he could not walk up the hill. The bus driver told him his card would not be any use to him in a month's time. That message is not coming from the Government but from the Opposition and it needs to stop. The Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection has been clear when she has said there is no agenda to take away the travel pass from pensioners.

I welcome the review, which is needed. We must address the fact that there is a cap of €77 million while the number of people using the scheme is increasing, as well as other issues concerning fraud. That does not mean we will take away the passes and the scaremongering needs to stop.

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