Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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The Minister, Deputy Calleary, is welcome to the House. I rise to focus the attention of the House on a vital public service that sits at the very heart of social inclusion on this island, the free travel scheme. Specifically, I am calling on the Minister for Social Protection to investigate a comprehensive, seamless expansion of this scheme into Northern Ireland. The free travel scheme is a lifeline, providing dignity, independence and mobility to all our older citizens, full-time carers and people with disabilities, yet when an eligible pass holder reaches the Border, that independence is abruptly halted by an invisible wall of administrative bureaucracy.

I want to pre-empt what I expect the Minister is going to argue today. The Department will likely argue that a system already exists. It will point to the senior pass scheme, where a resident here can apply for a separate concessionary card to travel into the North. Let us be completely honest with ourselves. Forcing a 75-year-old pensioner or a vulnerable citizen to fill out a separate cross-Border application form, jump through bureaucratic hoops and wait weeks for a second piece of plastic is not a true all-Ireland strategy. It is a barrier. It is an administrative deterrent. It is also a scheme that leaves out those with disabilities and full-time carers.

We must recognise that the communities near the Border do not see their lives in two separate halves. For them, the Border is a line on a map, not a barrier to daily life. Families, social lives and basic daily activities span both sides of that line fluidly. When a pensioner or disabled person wants to visit a grandchild, go to the shop or attend a community event just a few miles away, they should not have to navigate a maze of international paperwork just to use a local bus. The current clunky separation of transport passes ignores the lived reality of these tight-knit cross-Border communities.

Let us be clear. A truly seamless, integrated system is a win-win that delivers massive practical benefits to residents of Northern Ireland as well. Northern seniors holding a senior smart pass love visiting the South, but the moment they cross the Border, their younger disabled neighbours and full-time carers are left completely stranded and forced to pay full adult fares. By working with the Northern authorities, Stormont and Westminster to recognise reciprocal rights seamlessly, we open up transit opportunities for all vulnerable Northern citizens, allowing them to travel, spend and visit family in the Republic without facing a financial or administrative wall.

The true value of an all-island approach is that it replaces confusion with total coherence. Right now, we have a messy, unequal patchwork of rules. A disabled citizen in the South gets 100% free travel, but across the Border, a disabled person only gets a half-fare pass, and a full-time carer gets absolutely nothing at all. This is a significant human rights gap on a single island. Sitting down with Stormont to deliver a single unified rule book for free travel means we lift everyone to the same high standards of dignity and mobility, ensuring that a person's vulnerability is not penalised simply because of the jurisdiction they happen to live in.

As a more general point, we must stop planning public transport inside geographic silos and start looking at our transit networks on a real, logical all-Ireland basis. To take the north west as an example, the city of Derry is a natural economic and transit hub for the vast majority of County Donegal. For citizens living in Donegal or Monaghan, it is frequently much faster and more practical to transit directly across Tyrone or Fermanagh to reach another part of the Republic than it is to navigate their way into Connacht. If our transport geometry is inherently cross-Border, our ticketing and free travel system must be exactly the same.If the Government is genuinely committed to shared island initiatives, we must move past these clunky, outdated systems. An all-Ireland approach should be a default setting for public services, not an afterthought. We need a modern, integrated framework, where a free travel pass issued in Cork, Galway or Dublin can be tapped in Dublin on a train or bus ready for Belfast, Derry or Enniskillen. There should be no separate applications, additional passes or bureaucratic headaches. I urge the Minister to demonstrate real leadership and to initiative immediate feasibility talks on the matter.

Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)
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Before the Minister rises, I want to welcome the members of the IFA's national ready to lead group, who are guests of the Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Verona Murphy. She is obviously keeping them on a tight schedule.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus leis an Seanadóir Keogan as an ábhar seo a ardú. There is not much that I disagree with the Senator on but, as she knows, there are considerable practicalities in much of this, which I will go through.

The free travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services in this State for those eligible. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, as well as the Luas and additional services provided by over 70 private transport operators.

The all-Ireland free travel scheme is a reciprocal agreement between the Department of Social Protection and the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. It represents an agreement under which institutions in this State and in Northern Ireland recognise free travel arrangements for older people in each jurisdiction as equivalent arrangements.

The all-Island free travel scheme became operational in April 2007. The scheme enables those aged 66 and over and resident in the Republic to travel free of charge on all bus and rail services in Northern Ireland. Likewise, seniors in Northern Ireland travel free of charge on bus, rail and ferry services participating in the free travel scheme in this State.

As part of the agreement, the Northern Ireland authorities require that customers here wishing to avail of free travel in the North should do so using a senior smartpass as used for free travel by their Northern Ireland counterparts. This senior smartpass is compatible with electronic card readers used on Northern Ireland services. People from Northern Ireland can just present the senior smartpass to the operators in the free travel scheme here, and they will be issued with a ticket for travel.

Under the arrangements, the Northern authorities pay for travel undertaken within Northern Ireland by senior smartpass holders resident here, and Department of Social Protection pays for travel undertaken here by senior smartpass holders resident in Northern Ireland. As the Senator said, a separate application is required to receive a senior smartpass. However, this is not an overly burdensome process.

The Department has no objection to the Senator’s proposal, and I will ask my officials to work on examining options with the relevant Northern Ireland authorities to facilitate more seamless cross-Border travel. However, there are a number of practical issues that we also have to table.

Removing the need for separate applications or additional travel passes would require agreement, as well as integrated IT systems that would be able to accept and identify when the various travel passes are used to ensure proper remuneration to those who provide the travel service.

The various integrated ticketing systems that are used by transport providers are not funded by the Department of Social Protection, and the Department has no role in the provision or funding of such systems or instructing transport providers to invest in them.

My Department is, of course, available to help any free travel pass holder with their application for a senior smartpass, and I will look at promoting that service. As well as that, I will ask the officials to engage with my colleague, the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, around what else we can do to expand and make this service easier.

I must also point out that through the shared island fund, the Government is making significant investment in travel infrastructure in Northern Ireland in road, rail, bus and public transport. We want to continue to do that.

While the Senator raised a solid issue, the practicalities are immense. I am happy to examine how we can address those.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I appreciate that he will engage with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on this.

We live in the land of technology. We are told that we are a tech nation and the idea that it would require an agreement and would be a little bit difficult to have this IT system put in place quickly seems a little bit ridiculous. It is something that can be overcome easily.The reality on the ground is that a partnership should not require an older person to fill out an entire separate cross-Border application form, submit a passport photograph and wait for weeks just to get a separate piece of plastic. If the technology exists to recognise contactless bank cards instantly across Europe, our transport networks can absolutely recognise a single public service card across our one island. The current set-up is a bureaucratic hurdle, not a solution. A solution could be found to this quite easily and I hope the Minister will engage with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to find that. I thank the Minister for coming in today.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator. Technology is absolutely very much part of our lives but it does, as the Senator will always point out in debates, need guardrails. We have to protect the data of those who use our passes on both sides of the Border. That is important. While we have no objection, and I will ask my officials to examine all the options and bring the Senator's issue to the attention of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, any changes will require cross-Border agreement, as well as integrated IT systems. Bearing in mind that there are 70 private operators on top of the public operators, this is not an easy task. However, the free travel scheme is now benefiting over 1.17 million people who have direct benefit to the pass. When we look at the companion pass, which we extended last year, and spousal passes, over 2 million people are benefiting from the scheme. The scheme is meeting its objective of ensuing older people and people with disabilities can remain active and can travel. However, we will examine the processes again.

Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister.