Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Giving free travel to old age pensioners, along with giving the motorised transport grant and disabled driver concessions to those with disabilities who need cars to be mobile, were some of the better decisions relating to social welfare taken by this State. It showed a certain vision and a recognition that people's quality of life is greatly diminished when they are immobilised and improved when they are mobile. The decision in question showed some empathy and understanding of the reality of life for those who have no transport and recognised that mobility is a right that should be protected for the old and those with mobility difficulties.

Although public transport in rural areas is under-resourced and could be much better, it remains a lifeline to the outside world for many people who for economic, social or health reasons cannot drive. Utilising free travel is how these people get to see their grandchildren and other family members and, above all, maintain their independence. It also allows them to make hospital appointments, collect their pensions, do their shopping and, above all, meet people in order that they might enjoy some form of social outlet. The effect of rural isolation on elderly people is devastating. Maintaining their right to free travel is the least we can do for a generation whose members built this country and, in the main, worked all their lives, paid tax and insurance and contributed in all sorts of way to this State. This concession is not a one-way process. Rural isolation and the consequences relating to it are known to every Deputy who represents a rural constituency. We see evidence of its impact on a daily basis. The only connection many individuals in rural areas have with the wider community is by means of their access to free travel.

Active retirement is a benefit to the hospitality industry, and there are many hotels and restaurants doing a great trade in catering to the needs of those who have retired. The existence of this market depends on free travel. There are some in the industry whose businesses would not have survived the decrease in the number of tourists from abroad visiting Ireland were it not for the domestic market created by active retirement groups vacationing at home.

I sometimes reflect on the way discussions at the Cabinet table go when those in government sit down to make cuts. Is there anyone in the Cabinet who brings a bit of empathy, sympathy or compassion to that table, or is it all about the bottom line, prioritising the financial implications above the social implications and a devil-take-the-hindmost approach? I wonder who proposed to take free travel away from old age pensioners - we were informed earlier that it will not be taken from them - and what was the rationale behind that suggestion. Was there no recognition that, in terms of the common good, free travel for people over 66 years of age is a good thing which must continue? That is the least we can do for our people. There seems to be a mood around the Cabinet table which dictates that anything which might make life a bit easier for vulnerable people is fair game for a cut. The policies of austerity and the consequences thereof are felt in every single part of our country. The idea that someone might perhaps have the audacity to enjoy free travel means that the Government must move to take it from them. When the problems its removal will create become more acute, this decision will be looked at in hindsight and regretted. I urge that the free travel scheme be fully supported and retained - I take some comfort from what those on the Government side said earlier in that regard - in its current form as a universal benefit to all people aged 66 and over. It is clearly the right thing to do. Long may the free travel scheme continue.

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