Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Butterly for her question. The free travel scheme provides free travel on our main public and private transport services for those who are eligible. There are over 1 million customers with direct eligibility. The estimated expenditure on the free travel scheme in 2025 is €107.6 million.

The programme for Government has committed to examining an extension of free travel to include children who benefit from the domiciliary care allowance. DCA is a non-means-tested payment of €360 a month per child. In addition, all recipients of DCA qualify for the carer's support grant in June of each year, which is worth €2,000. If the free travel scheme were to be extended to include children benefiting from DCA, it is estimated that some 65,000 children would benefit from the measure in 2026. Based on an additional 65,000 children benefiting, it is estimated that extending free travel to include those children would cost in the region of €7 million in a full year.

It is not possible to deliver all of our programme for Government commitments at once and the extension of this scheme, along with other potential budget measures, is being considered in the context of the budgetary resources available. I am positively disposed to this measure and I note the Deputy's support for it but it will have to be looked at in the context of other priorities. At this time when we are quite far out from the budget, we are not in a position to make any commitment as to whether the measure will be included in budget 2026. I understand the importance of the scheme, particularly for children who are in receipt of DCA, as regards access to appointments and leisure activities. It is a priority we will be maintaining a close eye on.

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