Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his congratulations to me and the Minister of State, Deputy Humphreys.

The free travel scheme is currently available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over, and to persons under 66 who are in receipt of certain disability-type payments or carer’s allowance. When companion and spousal passes are taken into account, more than 1.2 million people benefit at an annual cost of €77 million. The Government, in its statement of priorities for the period 2014 to 2016 published last Friday, is committed to the full retention of the free travel scheme. This commitment recognises the importance of the pass to pensioners, people with disabilities and carers. Since its introduction in the 1960s, it has been highly valued as it allows beneficiaries to participate and remain active in the community. The freeze on funding for the scheme introduced by the previous Government in 2010 has placed pressure on the operation of the scheme as eligible passenger numbers have continued to rise. The Department is aware of the issues being raised by private operators and, in this regard, officials have had discussions with the National Transport Authority and the Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland.

In addition, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and I established a working group, with representatives from the two Departments as well as from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the National Transport Authority, to review the free travel scheme. I expect that group to complete its work soon and its recommendations will then be considered.

It might also be noted that the Department is investing in the modernisation of the free travel scheme. The introduction of the public services card for free travel customers will provide more accurate information on transport services where integrated ticketing is supported and will also include photo identification and security features. At the start of June 2014, more than 197,000 cards with a free travel variant have been issued. The free travel pass is safe.

As the Deputy will appreciate, there has been a significant investment in the new cards to modernise the administration of the scheme and the identification of people with the photo. The free travel pass is safe.

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