Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The free travel scheme is a non-statutory scheme administered by the Department of Social Protection. It is available to people aged 66 years or over permanently resident in the State, and to all carers in receipt of carer's allowance. The scheme is also available to certain people with disabilities and people receiving certain welfare-type payments. The fundamental principle of the scheme, as originally envisaged, was to utilise spare capacity on public transport services which operate, in any case, with or without eligible persons, but there are also strong social benefits from providing this service to people.

As the Minister for Transport, I am responsible for policy and overall funding for public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operational matters of the public transport operators, including those related to the operation of commercial bus services, their fare structures or the acceptance of free travel passes. Furthermore, the NTA also has no direct involvement with the free travel scheme on commercial services. While all public service obligation, PSO, transport services, including rural Local Link services, provide free travel to eligible pass holders, my understanding is that only some commercial operators provide the service. Those private bus companies that have chosen to opt into the free travel scheme are reimbursed for carrying non-fare paying passengers at a discount to reflect the fares foregone nature of the scheme.

Any assessment regarding new private operators seeking to enter the scheme or extending the scheme to all bus services licensed by the NTA would ultimately be a matter for the Department of Social Protection. Such determinations would need to be cognisant of likely cost implications. Since 2019, approximately €95 million in Exchequer funding has been allocated annually to operate the free travel scheme. Any decision to potentially extend the free travel scheme to include more privately-operated commercial bus services, including those operating in rural areas, would require significant levels of additional State funding to implement and operate. This must be a matter for discussion between the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

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