Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
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My question relates to a person who receives money from the Office of Wards of Court arising from compensation for a road traffic accident. The person has a disability and attends a service every day, by bus, which ensures they are not confined to a home for the rest of their lives. Their medical condition is so serious that they will never drive again so they have to use public transport but the fact that they receive this sum of money from the Office of Wards of Court means they are not entitled to a free bus pass. I understand that this affects people around the country and I believe it is a glitch in the system. I wonder if the decision on a bus pass could be made on medical issues, so that the person to whom I am referring could access these services every day. The funds are adequate at the moment but will not be adequate to support this person in the long term.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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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.

Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
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This is a genuine case in which a person is travelling every day to attend a service for people with disabilities.This person has a serious disability. They appear not to have the same rights as other people because they are in receipt of moneys from the Office of Wards of Court, and if they, for instance, went to apply for disability allowance in the morning, they would qualify for a disability payment. They now have to pay their bus fare each way, five days a week. They have a disability, which is not going to change, and they are not getting the same services from the State as other people who have the same type of disability. It is in that context I am raising this. The issue needs to be looked at. It should not just be based on social welfare payments but should also be based on particular disabilities.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Briefly, Minister of State.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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While I empathise with what Senator Colm Burke is saying, it is important to note that a person in receipt of a qualifying payment receives the pass on the basis of the primary payment and not on the basis of his or her underlying medical condition. If the particular person in this specific case has a serious problem going to the social welfare office, that might be dealt with on its own. At the moment, the important thing to note is that receipt of the pass is based on one's primary payment, not on the medical evidence. I thank the Cathaoirleach.