Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The free travel scheme provides free travel on public transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are approximately 940,000 customers with direct eligibility, with an annual allocation of €95 million. People who are eligible for a free travel pass are those resident in Ireland aged over 66, those in receipt of certain social welfare payments, or those who satisfy the visual impairment condition for the blind pension.

It is really important to note that a person in receipt of a qualifying payment receives the pass on the basis of that primary payment and not on the basis of his or her underlying medical condition. While medical evidence will be required to determine eligibility for certain social welfare schemes, it does not generally, of itself, entitle a person to free travel. The one exception to this involves those who are blind who, in many cases, will have entitlement from childhood.

In circumstances where a person is a ward of court and has insufficient means, he or she may be eligible to apply for a means-tested social welfare payment in the same way as anyone with insufficient means. In the case of means-tested payments, people are assessed on their cash income, property other than the family home, and investments. For all means-tested schemes, there is an initial amount of capital that is disregarded. In the case of disability allowance, for example, a person with €50,000 in savings can be assessed as having no means and, as a result, receive the maximum rate of disability allowance. A person with €113,000 in savings could qualify for the minimum rate of payment and would automatically qualify for the free travel scheme.

If the free travel scheme was to be extended to all people who had a disability or significant health issues, regardless of whether they receive a qualifying payment, a medical assessment process would be required for all such applications, significantly changing the nature of the scheme. It would also have significant costs, would require significant additional administrative processes to be put in place, and could only be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations. The Senator should note that, separately, under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection may award a travel supplement in any case where the circumstances of the case so warrant. The supplement is intended to assist with ongoing or recurring travel costs that cannot be met from the client's own resources and are deemed to be necessary. Every decision is based on consideration of the circumstances of the case, taking account of the nature and extent of the need and of the resources of the person concerned.