Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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I move:

That Dáil Éireann:notes:

— the importance of ensuring the elderly are fully empowered to engage with society and are enabled to continue to be active members of their communities in all aspects;

— the vital role the Free Travel Pass has played in supporting elderly people and reducing isolation since it was introduced in 1967;

— that research carried out by Age Action Ireland found that almost 80 per cent of older people use their travel pass at least once a week, while 30 per cent use it daily in order to attend medical appointments and other personal journeys and social activities; and

— the broader economic benefit to towns and the hospitality sector that the Free Travel Pass provides by facilitating easier access by the elderly;

notes with concern:

— the Government’s disastrous previous record in reviewing vital social services such as the medical cards review fiasco; and

— the series of cuts that have already hit the elderly, such as the hike in prescription charges, abolition of the telephone allowance, reduction in the fuel allowance and erosion of housing aid supports;

condemns:

— the Government’s threats to abolish this vital and effective State support; and

— the potential to further isolate a vulnerable section of society and restrict their ability to fully engage in the life of their community;

and calls on the Government to:

— fully support and retain the Free Travel Scheme in its current form as a universal benefit to all people aged 66 and over; and

— work towards progressing the National Positive Ageing Strategy.

Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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We have tabled this motion in response to requests we have received from many elderly and vulnerable people throughout the country who are very worried that there might be interference with their right to free travel. This Government has a record of using reviews of important social services as an alibi for reducing those services. The medical card fiasco is an obvious example. The Government has embarked on what is called a review of the viability of the free travel system. Many people throughout the country suspect, perhaps correctly, that this is a precursor to the entitlement to free travel being restricted or interfered with in some way. The Government should not underestimate for a moment the fear, anxiety and distress this has caused among the elderly and people who are very ill and vulnerable; nor should it underestimate the vehemence and determination of the resistance it will encounter if it seeks to interfere with this provision, which has been in existence since 1967.

Let us consider the type of people who would be affected by a change in the scheme. The first are people over 66 years of age. It is a statistical fact that 80% of people over 66 years of age who are in receipt of pensions rely solely on their old age pension. They have no other income or means. They are on a fixed income, the old age pension, which has not been increased in five or six years. They are a particularly vulnerable section of society and they have already been harshly treated by the Government, as I will demonstrate shortly. As I have said, 80% of them have no other means of support.

The second section of people who would be affected are carers. We all know what carers are doing for this society. I believe they are contributing, in net terms, approximately €4 billion per annum to the economy. In most cases they are shackled to their home or to the home of the person for whom they are caring. Some of them work around the clock. Free travel is one of the small perks they have been given, and there is now genuine anxiety that it might be taken away.

The third category of people who would be affected are people who are registered as blind. As is said in legal circles, res ipsa loquitur. Another category is people who live on invalidity pension. Members will be aware that in this country one must be quite ill to qualify for invalidity pension, and one must prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that one will never be in a position to work again. The vast majority of people who are in receipt of invalidity pension have no other means or separate income or resources on which to survive. They rely solely on their invalidity pension. Finally, there are the people in receipt of disability allowance. These are people who receive the means-tested benefit as they do not have sufficient contributions to qualify for illness benefit or invalidity pension. Given that the payment is means tested, they obviously do not have any resources other than their meagre social welfare income.

The attempt to interfere with free travel is further evidence of the regressive approach which has consistently been adopted by this Government in all the budgets it has introduced. "Regressive" means that one takes most from those who can least afford it and least from those who can most afford it. Let us consider the record of the Minister for Social Protection in respect of the elderly. She has slashed the fuel allowance by reducing the period from 32 to 26 weeks and emasculated the free electricity allowance, which is now worth approximately one-fifth of what it was when the Minister, Deputy Burton, took office. She has abolished the free telephone rental allowance, thereby removing a lifeline from the elderly. The elderly were disproportionately and overwhelmingly affected by this, although it also applies to people on invalidity pensions.

The bereavement grant has been abolished and pension changes have been introduced, many of which people still do not understand until they encounter them. When they encounter them they find that many people who worked for many years are now receiving a great deal less than they otherwise would have due to pension changes introduced by the Minister. There is also the 20% reduction in the respite care grant, which gives the lie to the Government's claims that it has not cut core social welfare benefits. Carer's allowance is a core benefit and everybody in receipt of carer's allowance receives the respite care grant. If one cuts the respite care grant, one has obviously cut the entitlement of every person in receipt of carer's allowance, in this case to the tune of €6 per week.

All of the measures introduced by the Government have reduced the disposable income of people who are largely on a fixed income, which has not changed for the past five to six years. It should be mentioned that their disposable income has also been affected by the medical card fiasco. I well recall the occasion a number of years ago when the previous Government proposed that a single person on a net income of more than €1,500 per week would not get a medical card. The current Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael described that as - I noted his words - a Judas betrayal. If a limit of €1,500 net per week is a Judas betrayal, what is the current situation, when it is €900 gross per week?

I do not have time to dwell on prescription charges, which we were promised would be abolished and instead have been increased fivefold. That disproportionately affects the elderly and the ill. There is also the slashing of home help hours, higher carbon taxes and property tax, which pensioners on fixed incomes must pay. They feel obliged to pay it even though they could claim a temporary exemption and postpone it, as it were. They are anxious to pay it, however, because they do not want it to build up as a debt at a rate of 4% per annum compound interest. Water charges are on the way, along with a host of other stealth taxes by which the disposable incomes of the most vulnerable people in this country are being steadily reduced.

The justification for this further attempted assault on the elderly is twofold. The Minister said money had to be found somewhere because there was pressure on finances elsewhere. Where is that? Is it pressure to reduce tax for the better off, pressure to give the children of wealthy parents medical cards up to the age of six, regardless of whether they need or want them, or pressure to pay consultants to give advice to the likes of Irish Water? The fact is that the cost of the free travel scheme is €77 million, which is a drop in the ocean in the context of overall Government expenditure. Public expenditure in this country amounts to billions of euro. Some of that is well spent and other parts of it are not so well spent, but I doubt there is any part of it for which the Government gets better value than the expenditure on free travel. Never has so little expenditure helped so many people.

If one adds up all the changes the Minister has made to social welfare, in so far as the elderly are concerned, the net effect is €290.4 million per annum out of the pockets of the elderly and people who benefit from free travel. There are 90 private operators in the scheme, and they are threatening to withdraw because they are not being paid enough. According to my calculations and the conversations I have had with some of the operators, a sum of €7 million would satisfy their demands.

This is pretty paltry in view of the fact the Government has already taken €290.4 million per annum away from the people who are going to be affected.

I notice that the Government's amendment to the motion refers to the previous Government's decision to freeze the provision for free travel. Three and a half years down the road, we are still talking about the previous Government. It is true that the previous Government did not increase the budget for free travel in the two budgets in its last year in office. However, if the Government is critical of that decision, why did it not reverse it in the last three and a half years? It has had three and a half years to unfreeze it, and in each year in which it has failed to do so more and more people have qualified for free travel.

We are accused of whipping up fear among the elderly. I am reacting to reputable organisations such as Age Action Ireland, the Irish Senior Citizens' Parliament and various organisations throughout the country which have come to us reflecting the fears and anxieties that are being expressed to them. We are here in Parliament, as is our duty and our right, to seek answers on behalf of those people. If the Government wants to make the accusation that fear is being deliberately whipped up among the elderly and vulnerable, let it then point the finger at organisations such as Age Action Ireland.

The other justification, of course, is that it is all designed to combat fraud and that fraud is widespread. Irish Rail and Bus Éireann have been encouraged to put out statements recently suggesting that bus passes were removed from so many people last year, there was a dawn raid somewhere and so many people were found on a train trying to defraud the free travel system. They are putting out those headlines as if the elderly people of this country and those on invalidity pensions - the poor and the vulnerable - are engaged in systematic and widespread fraud. That is a calculated insult to this vulnerable section of the electorate. The Government, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann should cease putting out statements of that type.

The main reason such fraud is pursued is that the older versions of the free travel pass are easily photocopied and do not contain a photograph. That is being corrected as we debate this in the House, because we are in the process of replacing the free travel pass with a public services card, which will eliminate the fraud. There is no need to have a review of the viability of the whole system to deal with that situation, as it is being dealt with by the Department itself.

In any case, I want to ask the Minister of State a simple question. How will introducing a charge, whether nominal or otherwise, restricting the hours during which people can use the free travel pass or restricting the use of the free travel pass to one mode of transport act to combat fraud? Let us take an example of a person who wants to travel to and from Limerick on the train for a fee of, say, €60. If he is able to defraud the State, he is going to be €60 better off in that he will gain €60 by not paying for his ticket - for example, by showing a forged travel pass. Are we suggesting that if we add a €5 travel charge and he gains only €55, he will not defraud the system at all? Is that what we are being told?

Research has shown that almost 80% of people who are entitled to a free travel pass use it on a weekly basis and 30% use it on a daily basis. A survey carried out by Age Action Ireland showed that the people who use the free travel pass use it on average six times per week, and that it is used to visit friends and family and for social interaction. Is it not ironic that we have spent so much money communicating with people through the media about their social obligation to visit and regularly check on the elderly, particularly those who live in isolated rural areas, in order to reduce social isolation, while at the same time contemplating a policy that will inevitably increase social isolation? The Government has already taken one lifeline from the elderly - namely, the free telephone rental allowance. Now, it seems to be on the path of taking another, and I am asking it to stop.

As I said, Age Action Ireland, a reputable organisation, did some research on this matter and came up with some very interesting findings. It found, for example, that when the elderly were asked what activities would be affected and what they would not be able to do if they did not have the free travel pass, 65% said they would not be able to visit their friends and 50% said it would interfere with their regular visits for medical appointments. In other words, what they were essentially saying was that it would increase social isolation, something which we, as a society, are supposed to be combating.

What I found especially ludicrous were the main proposals of the review group, which were leaked to the media. It is proposed, for example, that the Government would introduce a nominal charge. To talk about a nominal charge would be fine if we had not had all of those attacks on the disposable income of the elderly. What happens to a person on a fixed income of €230 per week who is using the free travel pass six times per week if a €5 charge is introduced? Another alternative proposal would be to restrict the hours during which free travel is available. What about people who have to attend medical appointments, many of which are scheduled for early in the morning? Moreover, if people are coming from outside Dublin, they would have to start early in the morning to get there. The possibility of restricting usage to one mode of transport was suggested. Do the members of this review group live in the real world? Do they not know that journeys often involve several modes of transport? For example, I know people who come up to Dublin for medical appointments by train and they then have to get the Luas or a Dublin Bus. Is it suggested that the entitlement to free travel finishes at the Luas stop?

The fact is that people are worried about this and they want reassurance. I ask the Government to give a commitment, at best, that it will cancel this review and put it on ice or, at a minimum, assure the elderly and vulnerable people of this country, who have already suffered enough and who have been sacrificed on the altar of austerity, that it will not put any of those changes into effect. By that I mean, first, that it will not introduce a nominal charge which, if one considers what happened with the free telephone rental, prescription charges and so on, would certainly be seen as the thin end of a very thick wedge; second, that it will not restrict the hours during which people can avail of free travel; and, third, that it will not restrict the modes of transport that can be used. I ask the Government to give that reassurance not to me but to the elderly and the vulnerable who are traumatised and anxious from one end of this country to the other.

There was recently an election contest for the leadership of the Labour Party. The person who emerged victorious, the Minister, Deputy Burton - good luck to her - said in her first statement after her victory that she wanted to rule with both the head and the heart. While we are used to pronouncements and statements from the Labour Party that have about as much value as a Zimbabwean dollar, I am prepared to take the Minister at her word. I am prepared to believe that she is sincere and that those words which she uttered on her election mean something. If she wants to rule with the heart as well as the head, I cannot think of a better place to start than by cancelling this review or at least giving us an assurance that she will not implement any of those three proposals which have been leaked to the media.

There are 800,000 people - more than 1 million if we count those with companion passes - who avail of free travel, whose lives have been bettered by it and to whom it is a lifeline. They are allowed to socially interact, to meet their friends and to have something to get up for in the morning.

It does not matter about me but they are waiting for a firm assurance in this regard. I would like to get it from the Government at the conclusion of this debate.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Tá áthas orm go bhfuil deis agam labhairt ar an ábhar seo anocht. The first thing I must refer to is the statement made by the Government that we froze the amount of money we gave to the service providers for the scheme, which was quite correct. However, we did not in any way impact on the scheme for those who used it, which was the important thing. In other words, we did what the Government says we should have done, namely, get better value for money for an investment in this scheme. We did the same thing with RTE and rightly so in my view. It is amazing how this Government always gives out about how the previous Government threw money around like snuff at a wake and then when it suits it, it turns around and says that the previous Government was very parsimonious with the money, demanded performance for the money it gave and demanded a little bit more for a little bit less so that we got performance. We should remember that public transport services are heavily subsidised by the Department of Transport and, therefore, it was our view that the funding of €77 million was sufficient to provide the service.

The second issue I wish to address is fraud. When we were in government, we planned to introduce the public services card. The idea was to integrate that with the ticketing service so there would be an actual record of all the people who used the free travel service so that we would have some idea of what the correct amount of money was. If the new card was properly backed up with technology on the ground, there would be a very high level of security and a very low level of fraud. I must say that I was surprised when I became Minister to find that the cards in Dublin had a picture while the cards down the country did not have one. We set about immediately driving forward the project in respect of the universal card that had the picture and also had other security measures on it.

I always watch the small print with this Government - how it says that it has not cut headline rates, whatever a headline rate is. At the end of the day, headline rates mean nothing to anybody if the Government is taking the money out of the other pocket. What has the Government done to old people? What is extraordinary is that when we look at its record on older people, we can see that the first thing it did was to cut the fuel allowance from 32 weeks to 26 weeks, which took €120 per annum out of older people's pockets. The Government then reduced the free electricity from 2,400 units to 1,800 units. That is 600 units out of 2,400 units, which is a 25% cut. The Government then got really clever. It changed it into cash. The reason why changing it into cash was a very clever but sneaky cut is that when one gets the payment in cash, when the price of a unit of electricity goes up, which it inevitably will over a period time, the Government will not increase the cash and, therefore, people will be getting fewer and fewer units all the time but it will not be so apparent that the Government has cut them another step. In the old days when we gave the units, when the price of electricity went up, the number of units stayed the same and, therefore, the amount of the benefit actually increased in cash value all the time. The Government then took another €20 per month by abolishing the free telephone rental and 12 times 20 is €240. The Government cut the respite care grant and not happy with taking money off pensioners, literally followed them to the grave by taking away the bereavement grant of €350 yet it did not touch headline rates. This is what the record of the Government is like. It takes it and then boasts that it has not taken it. It would be more honest if it just took it and said that it has taken it and that it has made every pensioner worse off in the past few years.

The Government has produced three budgets and every year inflation eats into pensioners' pensions. I looked at the amendment to the motion. In it, I thought I would see a straight statement that the Government intends maintaining the free travel scheme as it is, that is, available to pensioners and other people with medical conditions, invalidity pension, disability allowance and so on. What do I find in the wording? I am always interested in the wording with this Government. One must read the wording very carefully and ask oneself what it really means. The amendment states that the Government has protected the free travel scheme despite increasing numbers becoming eligible and a freeze in the funding imposed by the previous Government and is fully committed to fully supporting and retaining the free travel scheme as a universal benefit for elderly people but it does not say what my colleague was alluding to. It does not state that the Government has set up a review group that will try to curtail this benefit in some way or other.

Deputy O'Dea mentioned some of the ways in which the Government could take the good out of the scheme, for example, if people have to watch the clock when they go to take the train or the bus at a time when we have introduced the Leap card system whereby people can jump from the Luas on to the train, from the train on to the bus and from the bus on to suburban rail. The idea was that it was meant to be an integrated public transport service. Some genius came up with the idea that one can jump on the train but must pull out one's purse when one gets on to the bus or vice versa. Another idea that was dreamed up in the system and which I know about because I was approached by the rail company is that one would have to pre-book tickets so that if one wanted to go to Westport, which many older people do, one could not just walk down to Heuston Station, get on the train and go to Westport. One would have to pre-book the ticket. One of the beauties of free travel is that many people's lives are lived on a whim. A person decides to visit a family member at the far end of the country on the day and does not need to go in and book because they have their free ticket. Let us be honest about it. More and more people are being required to book online, which poses huge challenges for all of us but even bigger challenges for many older people who do not have access to computers and do not feel comfortable booking online even though they might look at personal stuff on the computer.

The Tánaiste is not here tonight. I congratulate her and hope she brings a bit of humanity to the hall of Government. I will be watching with interest. In her absence, I hope the Minister of State will be able to say here tonight that there will be no change to the free travel scheme and that it will continue to be a universal free travel scheme available to all of the people who have been eligible up to now. I hope he will say there will be no restrictions on it, that it will not be confined to one mode of transport and that people will not have to pay a nominal charge to get on the train or bus, time their clock to it or pre-book. If he says that, he will put many people's minds at rest. If that is the way it is, he should say so but if that is not the way it is, he should tell us that this is not the way it is going to be. In most cases, when people start carrying out reviews in the public service, the talk is that change is on the way. The talk then is that we were advised to do it. To put everybody's mind at rest, the Minister of State should tell them go bhfanfaidh sé seo mar atá sé, nach dtiocfaidh aon athrú air agus go mbeidh an saorthaisteal ar fáil mar a bhí riamh do phobal na tíre seo. Mura mbeidh sé ar fáil, seo an rud is mó a chuirfidh seandaoine in aghaidh an Rialtais agus inseoidh siad in am tráth dó céard é a meas ar Rialtas a dhéanfadh gearradh ar bith ar an liúntas seo.

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to say a few words on this motion and compliment Deputy O'Dea for bringing it forward. The free travel pass scheme has changed much since it was first introduced in 1967 for the over-70s. It was means-tested. Since then, it has been extended to pensioners and people on invalidity pension and disability allowance and there have been other changes to help older people move around freely.

We fully support the protection of the free travel scheme. It was introduced by Fianna Fáil in 1967 and it has helped to ensure generations of elderly people could remain connected to their communities. The pass has empowered otherwise isolated individuals to play an active role in their areas and helped them to attend medical and other personal appointments. The scheme also serves as a stimulus package by facilitating elderly people to travel across the country, injecting much needed money into the tourism and the hospitality sectors.

One always worries when a Department says it will undertake a review because that usually means changes, which are usually not in the best interest of the customer or the consumer. How often have reviews been carried out that resulted in significant change and people suffering greatly? Only recently there was a review of medical cards and many people lost their cards, particularly those who had discretionary cards or who had cards on medical grounds and so on. As a result, thousands of people throughout the country lost their medical cards. The Minister for Health in his wisdom decided to row back on the change and to go back to the future in the sense that he said former card holders who had lost them in the review would have them restored, although it is a slow process. Many people have not had their cards returned, as promised by him more than a month ago.

Research by Age Action Ireland demonstrates that 78% of travel pass holders use it on a weekly basis with 30% using it daily. More than 70% of respondents to the organisation's survey use the pass to attend medical appointments and more than 60% said they would find it difficult to attend such appointments or social events without it. Removing them would create a serious problem. People must wait a long time to get medical appointments, in some cases up to three or four years, and they could find they have no way to travelling to a hospital, particularly given the changes to hospital groupings. Hospitals in my own country, for example, are tied to Dublin and, therefore, people must travel to St. Vincent's, St. Luke's or Tallaght hospitals when they receive an appointment. It is important to retain the scheme to ensure travel passes are available to these people.

The survey also illustrates the critical role the pass plays in elderly people's lives. The pass serves as a major stimulus for the tourism sector, as it enables those aged over 66 to access easily various parts of the country for trips and excursions. Many active retirement groups and organisations from my home town of Enniscorthy, particularly on Sundays during the winter, travel to Dublin to visit museums and Croke Park for matches while some people visit relatives and go shopping. The elderly engage in many activities by availing of the free travel pass, which they would not have a hope of doing if it was not available to them.

The Government review cannot be allowed to serve as a smokescreen for hidden cuts to this critical support. The Government parties have introduced a range of harsh measures affecting the elderly such as prescription charges, abolition of the telephone allowance, reduction in the fuel allowance and a huge reduction in housing aid supports through county councils. This is causing serious problems for people who want to upgrade or refurbish their house to suit their needs but the moneys are not available. Wexford County Council says that it will run out of funding for housing schemes for the elderly at the end of July or early August for the remainder of the year.

I am worried, based on the way reviews have been carried out in the past, that a review of the free travel scheme will lead to a withdrawal of passes in certain circumstances. Some people say the scheme should be means tested while others say the pass should only be valid during off peak hours and more say there should be significant changes. I do not agree with major change. People must be allowed to continue to use their passes as they do currently.

The scheme costs €77 million annually, which is a small amount in the overall scheme of things when one considers that 787,000 people benefit from it. Perhaps elements of the scheme could be tightened but it should continue to operate as is. A number of private operators have threatened to withdraw from the scheme if the subsidy they receive is not increased to cover their increasing costs. We are getting good value for money. Diesel prices and other costs have increased but the free travel scheme operators are providing more or less the same service to the State and their funding has been similar on an annual basis. It is important that the Government does not use the fact that these operators or CIE are saying they need more money as an excuse to make changes in the review.

The national travel pass is important for ordinary people. Many people come in from the country and they take the bus or the train to Dublin or another destination without any hindrance or threat from the Government to change the system. The scheme enables people to access all parts of their communities, to travel to meet their families and friends or to visit places they wish to visit. To implement any change that would curtail this would represent a further attack on the elderly in our society. They have become an easy target for this Government. When they get protesting, they turn out in huge numbers - we saw that when the late Deputy Brian Lenihan introduced changes to the medical card scheme. They mobilised themselves, travelled to Dublin in their thousands, ironically courtesy of the free travel pass, to protest at the gates of Leinster House. The then Government rowed back on those measures and ensured people retained their medical cards over 70.

We now have a situation where people on discretionary medical cards have had those cards withdrawn but people mobilised themselves in the local elections by voting against the Government parties. People may not march on the streets any more but, as the Government will be aware following the local elections, elderly people who turn out to vote in great numbers now use those votes to decide on what type of services they wish to see. It is important that the free travel pass continues to be available to the elderly, the disabled, people on invalidity pensions and any others who are eligible for this service. The Minister should set the record straight and clarify that the proposed review will not result in the withdrawal of the pass from certain groups. It must be spelled out that this pass will continue to be available into the future to the people who are currently eligible for it.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:"notes:

— the importance of ensuring the elderly are fully empowered to engage with society and are enabled to continue to be active members of their communities in all aspects;

— the vital role the free travel pass has played in supporting elderly people and reducing isolation since it was introduced in 1967;

— the broader economic benefit to towns and the hospitality sector that the free travel pass provides by facilitating easier access by the elderly;

— the decision of the previous Government to freeze funding for the free travel scheme at a time when numbers eligible were increasing each year;

— the failure by the previous Government to develop a positive aging strategy;

— the critical importance of reviewing expenditure to ensure continued effectiveness and sustainability;

— the need for reviews of eligibility, as identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General, in order to ensure that public financial resources are spent in accordance with legislation;

— that cuts to public spending and increases in charges were necessary to restore the public finances after the economic mismanagement of the previous Government; and

— the publication jointly by the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Department of Social Protection of a research report on social transfers and poverty alleviation in Ireland which highlights the crucial role of the welfare system in alleviating poverty, ensuring those who need it most are protected and helping individuals and their families to overcome the severe difficulties caused by the economic crisis; and

acknowledges:

— that the social protection system has been extraordinarily effective in terms of income redistribution and poverty alleviation;

— that the Government has supported and protected the core weekly social protection payments;

— that the Government has protected the free travel scheme, despite the increasing numbers of eligible people and a freeze on funding imposed by the previous Government, and is committed to fully supporting and retaining the free travel scheme as a universal benefit for elderly people;

— that through the National Positive Aging Strategy, the Government has recognised the contribution of older people to society and has prioritised the concerns of older people across the whole of Government in a new way;

— that all relevant Government Departments are actively working effectively to implement the goals of the National Positive Aging Strategy across their areas of responsibility;

— the Government’s ongoing commitment to ensure access to primary care services to over 1.9 million people through the medical card and GP visit card schemes;

— the Government’s decision to develop a policy framework for providing eligibility for health services on the basis of medical conditions;

— that stable public finances are helping support long-term economic growth and job creation; and

— that this Government is determined to maintain its success in leading Ireland back to sustainable growth in living standards and in employment."

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I hope Deputy O'Dea appreciates that I was involved in discussions, and the bells do not sound clearly where I was. I welcome the opportunity to open the debate and I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Donohoe, for his opening statement. The Government has provided steadfast support for older people and, in that context, I want to say loudly and clearly that the Government has protected the free travel scheme for beneficiaries in all of its budgets and will continue to do so. I am upset that people would almost attempt to scare older people with the notion that something iconic which they value and use would be taken away when the economy is recovering. I would like the people in Fianna Fáil to acknowledge this.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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Age Action Ireland.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Age Action Ireland is entitled to make policy choices and engage in campaigns. The Deputy and Fianna Fáil want to put a statement on the record of the House. As Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection I say, as I have said since this campaign began, that there is no threat to free travel for older people, pure and simple.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Hear, hear.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Hear, hear.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I do not want older people to feel worried and scared because of a campaign for which, with due respect to Fianna Fáil and the people involved, there is no requirement. People are free to campaign on whatever they wish to campaign on. The free travel pass is safe.

The population of Ireland is aging rapidly. It is estimated that the over-65 population will rise by nearly 220,000 over the next decade to just over 800,000 in 2024. These demographic changes will pose significant social and economic challenges for individuals, families and society in general. However, such changes will also bring with them many opportunities as older people continue to make a significant contribution to all aspects of Irish life. The Government believes that the challenges can be met and the positive opportunities that arise exploited by planning now to ensure that Irish society is age-friendly in the years ahead.

Last year, the OECD published an independent and objective review of the Irish pensions system in which it was reported that the economic situation of pensioners in Ireland is comparatively good, both with respect to other age groups in the population and in international comparisons. While we would all like it to be better, one need only look North of the Border to make a comparison. The Government has sought to maintain the basic rate of State pension at 34% of the average weekly earnings. There have been significant improvements in the level of pensioner poverty in Ireland in recent years. I acknowledge the work the previous Government did on this and its commitment to the issue. While the previous Government, at the height of the difficulties to which it brought the country, froze the allocation of funds to free travel, it maintained the scheme. The scaremongering is out of place. The significant improvements in pensioner poverty are attributed mainly to substantial increases in the rates of State pensions over the period, and I acknowledge the work of the previous Government.

Last week the Department of Social Protection hosted its annual pre-budget forum. As it took place on Friday morning from approximately 8.30 a.m. until 1.30 p.m., it gave me very gainful employment while other events were unfolding elsewhere. Many of the submissions received in the Department in advance of the forum and many of the contributions at the workshops on the day referred to the free travel scheme. I went to all the workshops, as did all the senior departmental staff, in a very positive atmosphere of discussion with all the groups represented. All of the representative groups were clear in their support for the continuation of the free travel scheme, which is held in the highest regard and valued even by those who rarely use it.

It is regarded as a passport to leisure activities, time with families and, most importantly, to get to critical things like hospital and other care appointments. For some, it is a way to get to work for others to help them to attend hospital appointments. For many, it is a life-enhancing support which goes beyond the term "social inclusion".

The free travel scheme was introduced in 1967 to provide transport services to those aged over 70 who were living alone and in receipt of a social welfare pension. Owing to the range of policy changes implemented since 1967, the scheme is now universally available to all persons living in the State aged 66 and over as well as carers in receipt of carer's allowance and certain others such as those in receipt of disability allowance and invalidity pension. The effect of this broadening is that in excess of 20% of the total national population benefits from the scheme at present. The free travel scheme permits customers to travel for free on most CIE public transport services, including Irish Rail, DART, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus, and it can also be used on the Luas and a range of services offered by up to 90 private operators. It is available for cross-Border journeys to and from Northern Ireland and customers aged 66 and over can travel for free on journeys within Northern Ireland as part of the all-Ireland travel scheme. Customers of the scheme who are married, co-habiting or in a civil partnership receive a pass that allows their spouses, civil partners or co-habitants to travel with them for free. Certain customers with disabilities or incapacities can receive a companion pass.

The cost of the scheme has risen significantly in recent years as have the numbers of people availing of the scheme. In regard to review and reform, successive governments over many years have spoken of the need for greater policy analysis, evaluation and review of expenditure not to mention the experts from the international bodies who camped in Ireland for a while but, thankfully, visit now only occasionally as we are in recovery. There has been significant investment in training for civil servants and additional recruitment of qualified analysts and evaluators. There is no apology for the carrying out of a review in relation to any area of public expenditure. Deputy O'Dea will know well that the terms of the troika agreement he signed up to required practically everything that moved in any Department to be evaluated.

The Department is spending a very significant amount of money on a new PPS card which includes a biometric photo. It is being rolled out to older people across the country and is receiving very strong support from them. If one has had occasion to see the card, one will know that the letters "FT" are marked on its face. I ask the Deputy, would we make this very significant investment in technology if we were going to do away with the scheme?

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister is going to restrict it.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I rest my case. The free travel pass is safe.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Well said.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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Hear, hear.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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Can the Minister give us an assurance that she will not restrict it in any way? There are a lot of potential Ministers of State over there.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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And a former one down there.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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I am glad of the opportunity to respond to this deeply cynical and opportunistic motion this evening. The fact that Fianna Fáil chose to place a motion of this nature before the House smacks of a party desperately in search of an issue. Deputy O'Dea and his colleagues are doing their utmost as the Tánaiste suggested to sow doubt and confusion in the public mind on the future of a scheme the Minister recorded publicly this evening is not under threat.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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Age Action disagrees.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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This is a scheme we have managed to protect and secure over three consecutive budgets in the teeth of the most dramatic and catastrophic collapse in its public finances that the State has ever seen. That collapse was precipitated by Deputy O'Dea's own party. Given Fianna Fáil's track record in beggaring the country, the people who depend on the free travel scheme will not accept Deputy O'Dea's groundless charge that this critical scheme is somehow under threat. The Minister put it plainly and clearly that there is no threat to the scheme.

Ireland is one of the best countries in the world in which to grow old. They are not my words, but those of the authors of a United Nations supported analysis last year, the Global AgeWatch Index. This independent analysis found that Ireland ranked 12th in the world in terms of the quality of life of older people. The review also pointed out the fact that Ireland is ranked third in the world for providing what is termed "an enabling environment". In that context, the review refers to access to public transport for older people as a critical aspect of our policy framework to secure social cohesion. It is the strength of our social support system and the way the country and its Government have utilised the social protection system to redistribute income to alleviate poverty and support those sectors of society at risk of poverty that separate us from many analogous states across the developed world. Maintaining our social welfare rates, including State pension payments and other important supports for pensioners, as we have done for the last three years in the midst of national bankruptcy, is evidence of the Government's and the Labour Party's commitment to social cohesion and the concept of a basic floor of economic and social decency.

The free travel scheme works. It does exactly what it says on the tin and represents a very important tool in combatting social disadvantage among older people, carers and those who are entitled to have companion passes. The Members opposite will know that administrative reviews of schemes take place on a regular basis but that does not amount to a threat to a scheme's existence. However, far be it from those opposite to recognise and acknowledge that they are seeking to gain a short-term political advantage by coming here and accusing the Government of placing a scheme under threat which is not under threat at all.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy's party gained a lot of advantage from the false promises it made before the last election. The Deputy would not be here at all but for them.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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It is pathetic. I am sure Sinn Féin Members will be here later to support Deputy O'Dea's motion without any expression of shame or guilt from them at the niggardly social welfare rates and supports they preside over in the North by comparison with the system we have built up in the State over the years. In fairness, Deputy O'Dea's party has supported that system. The day that Sinn Féin starts to reform welfare in the North and doubles the core pension payments there to bring them into line with payments in this republic is the day I start to take seriously its empty rhetoric of concern for those who depend on social protection for their incomes. They cannot run away from this forever. I am sure we will hear plenty of rhetoric from Sinn Féin Members who attend to address the motion later.

Fianna Fáil has designed the motion to deliberately mislead and upset pensioners in the most spectacular way. It is an objectionable initiative.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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It is scaremongering.

John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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It is scaremongering.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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What about the organisation Age Action Ireland? The Deputy has evaded the question.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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It reflects very badly on Deputy O'Dea and his colleagues in the Fianna Fáil Party.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Hear, hear.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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Age Action went public.

John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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They are the most vulnerable people in society and all you can do is smile.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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Deputy Nash has the floor. Address the Chair.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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There is no intention, as the Minister made clear, to interfere with a scheme that has operated very successfully for a long time. There is no evidence for that whatsoever.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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That is absolutely right.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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I must ask the Deputy to conclude.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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Fianna Fáil Party Members would be better served by changing the habit of a lifetime and behaving more responsibly.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Hear, hear.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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We will not take advice from the Labour Party.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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While they are at that, they should offer an apology to older people for tabling this crass, cynical and, dare I say it, unnecessary motion, given what the Minister has said on the public record this evening.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy's party is the last we need advice from.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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In fact, Deputy O'Dea should consider withdrawing it.

John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Absolutely, withdraw the motion.

Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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The free travel pass the motion contends is under threat is something that is hugely important to both the social and economic fabric of the country.

It is regarded by many as a badge of honour and a reward for the hard work they have done inside and outside the home. It is held dearly by many people throughout the country.

Deputy Willie O'Dea mentioned some of the organisations that brought this issue to the fore and he specifically mentioned Age Action Ireland. That organisation came to our parliamentary party meeting room a number of months ago and asked politicians to stop flying kites. Age Action Ireland asked politicians to stop flying kites and scaremongering because old people listening to local and regional radio stations think that what they hear on the radio is reality. Here, Age Action Ireland and its partners in crime, Fianna Fáil, are scaremongering and upsetting people.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should withdraw that remark. On a point of order-----

Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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This happened in our parliamentary party room. Age Action Ireland asked us to stop flying kites so that older people would not be scared yet Deputy Willie O'Dea and his party are trying to do the same thing to older people up and down the country. It is shameful.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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It is desperate behaviour.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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On a point of order, I ask the Deputy to withdraw the outrageous slur on Age Action Ireland.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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That is not a point of order.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should not mention an organisation from outside the House when it is not in a position to defend itself and accuse the organisation of being partners in crime.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Deputy Willie O'Dea does not like his own medicine.

Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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As I understand it, there was a PowerPoint presentation on how the kite flying by politicians was upsetting old people at home and to refrain from doing so. I find it difficult that the same organisation is doing that when the Tánaiste stated categorically in the House that the scheme is not under threat. This Government is reviewing and reforming the scheme but that does not mean it will throw aside the scheme. We want to make it better and to protect it.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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And to restrict it.

Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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The motion is cynical and is an example of scaremongering. I find it very difficult to think the same organisation stood in our parliamentary party meeting rooms and asked us to refrain from doing what it has done in the past number of weeks. From family members involved in Age Action Ireland, I know it does great work at local level and I find it difficult to understand why it has taken this tack on the scheme.

Fianna Fáil has much to fear from its interaction with regard to pensioners.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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Is this a joke?

Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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No, the only joke is the Fianna Fáil motion. The Tánaiste categorically stated in the House that the scheme will not change.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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The Tánaiste also promised no cuts to child benefit.

Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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Deputy Willie O'Dea is scaremongering, as reflected in the number of people who have contacted our clinics and Deputies. This is the worst kind of politics.

John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Deputy Willie O'Dea should withdraw the motion.

Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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This is the worst kind of politics when we know for a fact that the scheme will be protected. Fianna Fáil should withdraw the motion. It is ridiculous.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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The game is up.

Áine Collins (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. The free travel scheme is equally important to rural and urban pensioners for carrying out everyday tasks. Last week, we spoke about the effects a sense of isolation can have on individuals, especially in rural areas. This applies especially to older people who have given so much to the country. Transport serves older people who, for one reason or another, can no longer drive or can only drive short distances. Most users say that, without the travel pass, they would be unable to attend medical or health appointments.

It is found that those over 60 years who take advantage of their right to free bus and train travel are also likely to walk and take exercise. The scheme allows older people to live with dignity and independence while being able to remain in close contact with family and friends. The recent downturn in the economy means many families have scattered throughout the country in order to obtain employment, with many moving from rural communities to cities. The pressure on most households to have two people working means they may not be able to spend as much time as they would like, or as they did in the past, with their parents. Free travel for pensioners enables them to remain in constant contact and allows them to travel to see their children and grandchildren.

Every Member agrees the free travel pass plays a significant role for elderly people. It is ironic that Fianna Fáil is raising the issue, as well as many others, to scare people. Cutbacks that society has had to bear over the past number of years would not have arisen only for the total mismanagement of the economy by Fianna Fáil. Fianna Fáil keeps saying that we must move on from the past and we are doing so. The economy is slowly recovering and we will gradually be able to restore and improve services but we will continue to remind Fianna Fáil and the electorate that the party brought the country to the edge of bankruptcy three times since the foundation of the State.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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It is not doing Fine Gael much good. I can think of a few examples of the Government side leading us to bankruptcy.

Áine Collins (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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On each occasion, Fine Gael and the Labour Party took hard decisions in the national interest to restore the economy to a state where it can pay for badly needed social services like free travel. When will Fianna Fáil disclose that, in its successful efforts to buy its way into power in three successive general elections, it destroyed the lives of thousands of people, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to emigrate and nearly reducing our economy to the status of a banana republic? As we move forward, having repaired the economy once again, we must do so cautiously. The Government wants to make real social changes that are sustainable for the future and to maintain the free travel pass, to which we are committed, and to provide other benefits to improve the quality of life for all the population, including the ageing population.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion but I take issue with the wording, particularly the line that Dáil Éireann condemns "the Government’s threats to abolish this vital and effective State support". There was no threat and there still is no threat, nor will there be any threat to those availing of the scheme.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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Hear ,hear.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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I am delighted the Minister of State, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, is in the Chamber because we are both happy to talk about something that matters rather than talking about Garth Brooks, as we have been doing the whole day.

I work closely with Age Action Ireland in my constituency. I have a number of senior citizens fora and Age Action Ireland attends regularly. It tells local people about its care and repair programmes, which are of great benefit, and it does a lot of sound work.

However, it got it wrong with this campaign. The campaign has unnecessarily worried people and got them frightened.

They know how important their travel pass and independence are to them. They value that independence and the very suggestion that it would be interfered with scared them. I believe Age Action Ireland was mistaken in embarking on this campaign, because there was never a threat to this scheme. At this juncture, considering that the Ministers for Social Protection and Transport, Tourism and Sport have said there is no threat to this scheme, this debate should stop now, the motion should be withdrawn and we should debate something genuinely important.

It is important to discuss the concept of universality. Often we can be quite complacent about some of our social infrastructure and the reason for it. We will have a debate soon on free GP care for children under six and some people will say it is unnecessary for people of a certain income bracket to have or avail of social infrastructure or supports like this. However, if we live in and believe in the essence of a republic, services such as free travel passes, free GP care or free education for everybody are constants we cannot lose sight of, even in straitened times. I had a meeting with Dublin Bus recently and was told that the €75 million it gets from the social protection budget is vital to the survival of Dublin Bus as a public transport entity in the city. Therefore, it would be nonsense to suggest this investment from the Department of Social Protection would be interfered with.

I must touch on the issue of Fianna Fáil hypocrisy, because this issue is being used by Fianna Fáil as a political football to scare people who are terrified their travel pass may be interfered with. I remind the House that if the Government had followed the four-year plan as laid out by Fianna Fáil when it signed up with the IMF, we would have seen €1.7 billion more in cuts to the social protection budget. In that scenario, it would have been practically impossible to maintain essential services such as the travel pass. Fianna Fáil should be grateful the Government did not follow its four-year plan and that €1.7 billion extra was not taken from the social protection budget. As a result, schemes like the travel pass can be maintained.

I thank the Ministers for their clarity on this issue. There has been no ambiguity. Their language has been straightforward and there has been no obfuscation or clever use of language. Ministers from across the spectrum, involved in transport and social protection, have been categorical that there is no need for this motion and there is no threat to the travel pass. It stayed for the past three years and stayed under the previous Administration. Therefore, there is no point in discussing the issue further.

The best thing for Fianna Fáil to do is to apologise for raising the fears of senior citizens and apologise for the tone of its motion and withdraw it on foot of the categorical statements given by the Minister.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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What categorical statements?

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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Fianna Fáil should also thank the Government, on the basis that by not following the Fianna Fáil plan, the social protection budget is more intact than it would have been if Fianna Fáil had remained in power.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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Sinn Féin Members, Deputies Ellis, Ó Snodaigh and Ferris are sharing their time.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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The free travel pass introduced in 1967 was an important step in providing services for older retired people. It was a great success and garnered much political support for both Charlie Haughey, the then Minister for Finance, and the Fianna Fáil Party. To their credit, it provided retired people who were often isolated and financially unable to access private transport, with a route to access their local area and further afield to visit doctors, attend to religious practices, socialise, purchase essentials and take part in other activities which comprised the lives of the people of the State at the time.

In the 1966 census, the population was just 2.9 million people. In 2011, we had 535,000 people in the State over the age of 65. We have a greater network of public transport operating now, with greater regularity. This costs more to keep running, due to decent wages and conditions for workers, high safety standards and the increasing cost of fuel. One sixth of the population in 1966 is today entitled to the free travel pass. This no longer just provides access to local shops, but access to a modern network which, despite its faults, opens up much of the country to the general public. This modern reality requires us not to look at the free travel pass as a problem. However, we must regularly ensure it is working in the best way possible for the greatest number of people and that the principle at its heart remains. This is particularly important at a time of austerity, when right wing elements are all too quick to call for socially important initiatives to go to the chopping block.

When we look at the free travel scheme, there can be no other conclusion drawn but that it is a positive measure which to this day provides a great lifeline for isolated and financially deprived older people. In a survey carried out by Age Action, some 57% of respondents said that without their travel pass, they would not be able to attend medical or health appointments, while 61% said loss of the pass would prevent them from being able to visit family and friends.

Despite the power of the so called "grey vote", retired older people are being hit by the Government and were hit by the previous Government. Most recently, we saw the removal of the bereavement grant and the telephone allowance, which caused large protests. If the Government intends to weaken the free travel scheme, perhaps it hopes such protests will be more difficult for older people in the future. Before the recent protests, we saw older people successfully campaign against the removal of their medical cards. They were addressed by the then Labour Party leader, an unrepentant opponent of austerity, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Eamon Gilmore. He told the crowd that assembled to fight for its rights and that the actions of the Fianna Fáil Government in attacking the rights and entitlements of older people was shameful. It is not lost on me that this motion has been brought forward by the party that caused that large protest.

Older people have also suffered disproportionately from austerity overall. They have been hurt by the cuts to fuel allowance, home benefit packages and increases in utility costs and refuse collection. They have been further isolated by the damage done to communities. The social centres and community projects which have lost funding over the past six years were important connections for older people to their area and their peers. For many, these centres gave them a purpose when their life of work and family were over. When families around the country are struggling to make ends meet, it is beyond question that older people are also struggling to survive. They are struggling to keep their homes warm, to feed themselves and to afford prescription charges for medicine which keeps them in relative comfort. The free travel pass provides comfort by making it possible for them to connect with others. As the Age Action survey shows, this is a matter of allowing older people to maintain a life, see friends and family and keep alive. For older people worst hit by austerity, the free travel pass is key to the only warmth and comfort they can get in the day. We have all heard of older people forced to wander through shops during the day for warmth. They also sit on buses, trains and trams.

I recognise the Government has denied it plans to make any cuts or changes and do not believe reviews should not take place. I welcome the opportunity for it to state plainly and clearly tonight that older people can rest easy, that their free travel entitlements are secure and that the essential services the pass provides are here to stay. It is important to maintain these facilities for older people.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I wholeheartedly support Age Action's hands off our travel passes campaign. The importance of the free travel scheme to older people across the State cannot be overstated.

They are not alone in depending on the travel pass to overcome isolation and live a meaningful life of dignity and inclusion. It is unfortunate that the Fianna Fáil motion makes no mention of the thousands of people with disabilities and their carers, for whom the travel pass scheme must also be defended and protected in full. I am of the view that this matter warrants express mention, particularly when we consider the fate of other schemes designed to meet the varying travel needs of people with disabilities.

The mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant are two schemes that were intended to contribute to the transport costs of people with disabilities which impede them or leave them unable to use public transport. In a stunning move, the Government closed these schemes to new applicants early last year. It promised at the time that they would be replaced with something new but, more than a year later, no such replacements have materialised. The Government also announced that the excise duty relief element of the disabled drivers and passengers scheme would be discontinued from the end of the year. The Minister for Finance has promised that it will be replaced by a new fuel grant scheme of equivalent value. However, the clock is ticking and no concrete details have as yet emerged in respect of a replacement scheme. It must be remembered that there is no cost-of-disability payment in this State and, therefore, not just cash transfers but all the other various elements of the package of supports available to people with disabilities, including the free travel scheme, are all core to the overall income of people with disabilities and their households.

In its pre-budget submission to the Department of Social Protection, the Disability Federation of Ireland stated:

We can no longer accept the argument that the protection of basic payments equates with the protection of basic income. Supplementary income supports are part of people’s basic income, and must be protected and bolstered to reflect growing need to pay for extra medical, transport and living costs that must be met, just as these very services are being stripped back ... Supplementary benefits such as Household Benefits Package, domiciliary Care Allowance and Free Travel Scheme, must be protected.

In its response to the motion, I urge the Government to make a clear and categorical commitment that there will be no further erosion of the transport supports for people with disabilities and that, at a minimum, the free travel scheme will be protected in full for older people, those with disabilities and their carers. In its amendment, the Government states its commitment "to fully supporting and retaining the free travel scheme as a universal benefit for elderly people". I request that it extend this commitment to those with disabilities. It is possible that the only reason the Government is not considering restricting the free travel scheme is that older people have spoken at recent elections. When the then Fianna Fáil Government launched an attack on their benefits, they came out in massive numbers and forced that Administration to reverse its decision.

Deputy Nash saw fit to have a go at Sinn Féin, but as soon as the other members of his party who were present in the Chamber had concluded their contributions, he legged it because he did not want to listen to the truth. The Deputy's party were recently rejected by the people North and South. My apologies; that party does not even bother to run candidates in the North, so it cannot even put its policies to the electorate there. However, its sister party was rejected by the nationalist people in the North. On the issue of social welfare reform there, the Labour Party's sister party takes exactly the same stance we take in rejecting Tory cuts. Rather than the Assembly, it is the Tories who have set the agenda. This matter has never been properly put to the Assembly as a result of who controls the purse strings and the fact that the Labour Party, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have never demanded the transfer of the relevant fiscal powers to the Assembly.

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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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.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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The free travel scheme is hugely desirable because it keeps people actively engaged and independent. If the 780,000 people on the scheme were all to start using cars, quite an amount of damage would be done to the environment. If we really want to count costs, then we must take all of them into account.

Like others, I have been contacted by people who have asked me questions. People understand this scheme is under review. Their reading is that if it is under review then the Government will change something about it. It is essential that the Government comes out and says what is being reviewed. I heard the Minister saying earlier that there is no threat to the travel pass. However, I was in the House when the same categoric assurances were given in respect of the Scandinavian model of child care and one-parent family payments. Only last week 5,000 families lost that payment and a further 4,000 will lose the payment incrementally in the coming years. Sometimes categoric assurances are not really worth a great deal and certainly they have not been worth much in that case.

There is a major issue of trust with this Government. The Government must use a language that is not a code for something else. There have been accusations that people are flying kites when we talk about the language of government and the primary or core rates of social welfare being maintained and that is understandable. Most people take the view that this means the social welfare system is being maintained but really it is a code for introducing something else. This has been discrediting for politics in that people had no expectation that some of these things that were to be changed were actually changed. Indeed not even this was true because the core rates, for example, for people under the age of 25 years, changed as did those for people who had payments limited to nine months as opposed to a 12 month payment. A major rebuilding project is required by this Government and the language of Government must change. The language of Government should be overt rather than covert in terms of political survival. I do not believe the Government will be able to build trust unless it deals with that.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Many of our senior citizens have already survived one if not two recessions. The majority of them are living on greatly reduced incomes. Many are helping out their children who are unemployed or in negative equity as well as adult children who have had to move home. They have seen increases in private health insurance and medication costs. They have lost the telephone allowance and the death benefit. They have seen medical card issues, the property tax and now there are impending water charges. The one service they have for free, a facility that has been in place since 1967, may be under threat.

I note that the Government amendment recognises the vital role of the free travel pass in supporting elderly people and reducing isolation. The amendment also states that the Government is fully committed to supporting and retaining the free travel pass. I am pleased the debate has at least brought clarity to that aspect of the matter. However, this is not simply about free travel. It is also about the opportunities that the pass gave people who availed of it. It is also about the money that they spend at the various destinations to which they travel. The pass enables them to avail of essential services. It is also of particular benefit to those with disabilities who are included in the scheme. Last week we saw funding for two particular services cut, namely, the Irish Deaf Society and the Alzheimer Society of Ireland. Both services benefit elderly citizens.

A working group was set up by the Government to consider solutions to the so-called problems associated with the scheme. There were representatives from the Departments of Social Protection and Public Expenditure and Reform, the National Transport Authority and the transport operators. Where were the representatives for senior citizens? Where were the representatives from disability groups? Many groups could have been represented but were not. There are many groups representing senior citizens, including the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament or the Irish Association of Older People. We have a vibrant docklands senior citizen community on both sides of the Liffey. It is important that the working group presents its recommendations.

The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, has been at promoting positive ageing. This possibility, whether this is scaremongering or whatever, coupled with the cuts to date do not support positive ageing. They go against what is in the programme for Government which says that elderly persons will be recognised, supported and enabled to live independently. The free travel pass enables them to do this. We should of course get the facts and sort out the fraud but there should be no threat to the travel pass. It is not a problem. In fact, it is actually a solution to many of the problems that affect elderly people and those with a disability.