Paul Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I was recently contacted by a lady who is receiving treatment for cancer. She applied for disability allowance in April this year but was told she is not likely to receive a decision on her application until mid-July.

In the interim, she has been travelling to and from Dublin every day from Westmeath to receive treatment. She does not have her own transport and there is no alternative for her to get to Dublin from where she lives but to take public transport. Every day, she and a companion, who travels with her to support her, take the bus to Dublin and back in order that she can receive radium treatment. The cost of this travel is almost €40 per day. A cancer diagnosis does not mean everything else suddenly stops. Bills still need to be paid and food put on the table. Life has to go on, but for already stretched families an extra travel bill of €40 per day is often too much to bear.

If this lady's application for disability allowance is approved, and we expect it will be given her circumstances, she would be eligible for free travel and would not have to incur these costs. However, as I understand it, it is not possible to claim back travel costs already incurred once disability allowance is finally granted. This means people who are extremely ill and would ordinarily be entitled to this benefit are incurring very high costs for transport due to the long processing delays in the Department.

On a separate issue related to delays, I have also been contacted by a lady who has applied for carer's allowance but must wait 18 weeks before her application will be reviewed. These long waiting times are simply inexcusable and unacceptable and something must be done to address them.

Specifically in the case of those who have been diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses, such as cancer, and who are receiving regular treatment that requires travel over long distances, it would be appropriate to automatically grant them free travel from day one. This would relieve the extraordinary financial stress that some find themselves under at a time when they are already extremely vulnerable and need all of the support they can get. Lest we forget, these people are fighting illness and we should do all we can to help them.

I understand that disability allowance, or any other benefit, cannot simply be handed out without a proper assessment as to entitlement, but where we know that somebody has a serious and potentially terminal illness and has to travel for treatment, free public transport should be offered from the outset and without any further review.It is likely that a large number of people will make their own transport arrangements and not need to take public transport. This measure should make a huge difference to those who need public transport and its introduction would be reasonable and justifiable. Most importantly, it would be the caring and compassionate thing to do for those affected. Therefore, I ask the Minister to consider amending the system to make this benefit available in circumstances such as those I have outlined.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for tabling this Commencement matter, to which I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, who apologises for being unable to come to the Chamber.

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection provides a free travel scheme as a secondary benefit for older people and certain people with disabilities who are customers of the Department. The scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for people who are eligible under it. There are approximately 914,000 customers in receipt of free travel. A person who regularly travels significant distances for hospital treatment for the illnesses described by the Senator will already have this entitlement if he or she is in receipt of invalidity pension or disability allowance. Therefore, any extension would have to involve others who have no such entitlement.

The objective of the free travel scheme is to ensure older people and people with disabilities remain active within their communities. Any extension of eligibility under the scheme to include people who are not customers of the Department would change this objective and radically alter the nature of the scheme. Any such scheme would require a more significant operation than that which administers the Department’s free travel scheme because, potentially, it would have to grant and withdraw a significant number of passes each year from people who are not customers of the Department. It would have to do this using information which would ultimately be provided by doctors or hospitals. All free travel passes issued by the Department entitle the holder to unlimited free travel on the main public and private transport services. The Department would have no way of limiting the use of the pass to ensure it was being used for travelling to and from hospitals for treatment only.

Any increase in eligibility under the scheme would require a substantial increase in the level of funding provided, which currently stands at €90 million per annum. The social welfare payments that allow people under the age of 66 years to receive free travel passes include disability allowance, invalidity pension, carer's allowance and partial capacity benefit. Disability allowance and invalidity pension are long-term illness payments, for which people who are receiving hospital treatment may qualify. Therefore, persons in receipt of such payments are already eligible for free travel.

Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, the Department may award a travel supplement if it is warranted by the circumstances of a case. 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. Individuals who must travel significant distances to and from hospital for treatment may apply for a travel supplement. Each decision is based on consideration of the circumstances of the case, taking account of the nature and extent of the needs and resources of the person concerned. Therefore, the Minister is not in a position to extend the free travel scheme in the manner proposed by the Senator.

Paul Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I note the response given by Minister of State who is representing the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, but I am not overly impressed by or happy with it. Applications are in the process of being dealt with in many cases, including the case I have highlighted. That is the point I am trying to make. If it was not taking such an inordinately long time to deal with the applications, I would not be here and the lady I have mentioned would not have the problems she has. I am talking about what should happen in the interim when a live application is in process, especially where medical evidence demonstrates that the applicant needs treatment in a location to which he or she must make a long journey. The Minister of State overlooked that aspect of the matter in her response. Although the people to whom I refer are not existing customers of the Department, it is most likely that they will become customers. As I said, the expenses they incur while waiting cannot be reimbursed. I think the Minister of State missed that angle of my presentation. It is likely that the people to whom I refer, whose live applications are in the process of being dealt with, will eventually become customers. In the meantime, they are spending money they do not have. Perhaps that money might be refunded to them when the Department gets around to processing their applications. They should be reimbursed for the money they have spent, or their applications for free travel should be fast-tracked.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I have taken note of the Senator's concerns and will bring them back to the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly. I remind the Senator that I mentioned in my initial response that a supplementary travel benefit can be made available to people who find themselves under considerable stress because of the circumstances of their illness. Perhaps it might be possible for the Senator to look into that matter on behalf of the lady in question who may be able to avail of the supplementary travel allowance while she is waiting to hear back on her application for disability allowance.