Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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94. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans to extend the free travel pass to children in receipt of domiciliary care allowance; the number of children who would benefit; the estimated cost of this extension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32745/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. I will go back over the criteria for free travel. One can get a free travel pass if one is in receipt of disability allowance, blind pension, carer's allowance or invalidity pension. Leaving out the domiciliary care allowance is an anomaly in itself. It is quite unfair. The domiciliary care allowance is provided to parents and guardians of children under 16 who have a severe disability and who require substantially more care and attention, which involves more costs, than a child of the same age without a disability. It is based on the children's level of physical and mental impairment and the ongoing care they need. Free travel would often be of great benefit because there are a great many costs associated with taking care of a child with severe disabilities. I refer to treatments, appointments and loss of income. This would be of great benefit to people in more urban settings.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I fully recognise the importance of DCA. That is why we in the Department have put such a focus on it. We have particularly focused on trying to reduce the waiting periods for appeals and applications. I fully understand how important it would be to extend free travel to include those in receipt of DCA for many reasons, including medical and social appointments.

Regarding free travel, we are currently focused on implementing the decision made in budget 2025 to expand the free travel companion pass to everybody over the age of 70. As of next September, everybody over that age will be able to avail of a free travel companion pass. Last July, we expanded the free travel scheme to support people who were medically certified as being unable to drive for a period of 12 months or more. This includes people with epilepsy, for example. We are expanding the scheme on a planned and budgeted basis. The expansion that will be implemented from September is currently being rolled out within the Department. People are receiving correspondence about that companion pass. This will be one of the biggest expansions of the scheme in its history.

Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I welcome all of these changes but I will go back to the issue. These children are under 16 years of age and have severe disabilities. Their parents and carers are put to the pin of their collar both financially and emotionally. Allowing them a free travel pass would not only ease the financial burden, but ease the transition. As I was saying previously, this is particularly the case in urban areas. It is no good to anybody in a rural area because we do not have a sufficient transport system. This should be a priority for the next budget. I urge the Minister to consider it.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I absolutely guarantee it will be considered. I fully understand the pressures those in receipt of DCA are under. We want to enhance their lived experience. It will be considered, in line with other commitments within the programme for Government. It is a commitment within the programme for Government and will be delivered on within the lifetime of this Government. I note the Deputy's strong support for the measure. We will continue to work with her on it.