Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection.

The main objective of the free travel scheme administered by the Department is to encourage older people and people with disabilities to remain independent and active in the community. The scheme permits a recipient to travel for free on most CIE public transport services, Luas and a range of services offered by a large number of private operators in various parts of the country. A free travel customer can also travel for free on cross-Border journeys between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Customers aged 66 years and over can avail of free travel on transport services operating internally within Northern Ireland. There are approximately 686,000 customers availing of the scheme at an annual cost of some €77 million.

In addition to the free travel scheme, the Department makes an annual contribution of €1.5 million to the rural transport programme, in addition to the contribution provided by the Department of Transport, in recognition of the carriage of free travel customers. It is acknowledged that free travel customers benefit from the initiative, particularly those who had no access to public transport prior to the setting up of the programme.

The free travel scheme is available to a wide range of customers, including all persons aged 66 years or over and customers under the age of 66 who are in receipt of disability related payments such as disability allowance, invalidity pension, blind pension and incapacity supplement or workmen's compensation with a disablement pension. People resident in the State who are in receipt of a social security invalidity payment from a country covered by EU regulations or from a country with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement and who have been in receipt of that payment for at least 12 months are also eligible for free travel. Free travel is also provided for those providing care and satisfying the payment condition in recognition of the additional costs which may occur in assisting the care recipient. Widows and widowers aged 60 to 65 years whose late spouse was availing of the free travel scheme may also qualify.

Customers who qualify for the free travel scheme who are married or living as husband and wife may have an entitlement to a free travel pass that allows their spouse or partner to accompany them for free when travelling. In addition, certain people can obtain a free travel companion pass if they are medically assessed as unfit to travel alone. This type of pass allows any one person, aged 16 years or over, to accompany the customer for free when travelling. The purpose of the scheme is to encourage recipients to remain mobile and to ensure a person's entitlement to free travel is not diminished because a companion cannot afford to accompany them.

In regard to the specific case raised by the Senator, the person's adult son is not in receipt of a payment that would qualify him for entitlement to avail of the free travel scheme. As with all social welfare schemes, or any scheme administered by the State, there is no provision to transfer entitlement from a person who meets the qualifying criteria to a person who does not meet them. There is no provision, therefore, to transfer a free travel pass from one customer to another. Moreover, in this case I am advised that the mother referred to by the Senator does not qualify for free travel. The free travel scheme is available to persons in receipt of carer's allowance or to a nominated carer for a person in receipt of constant attendance allowance or prescribed relative's allowance from the Department. The person referred to by the Senator was previously in receipt of carer's allowance and had an entitlement to avail of the free travel scheme until payment of the allowance ceased in 2007. Eligibility to avail of the free travel scheme is contingent on a person's eligibility to receive payment of carer's allowance. When payment of carer's allowance ceased, the customer would have been advised that she was no longer entitled to avail of the free travel scheme and that she should return her travel pass. I understand the person submitted a new application for carer's allowance earlier this week which will be given full consideration.