Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 970: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the estimated cost of the recent announcement of the extension of the free schemes on energy, electricity and so on to old age pensioners; the number of qualifying recipients; the cost of the schemes per annum from 2002 to date in 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28856/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Following the recent energy price increases, my Department is increasing the current annual entitlement of 1,800 free units of electricity to 2,400 units from January 2007. A pro rata increase will also apply on the gas allowance from October 2006. The estimated annual cost of the increases is EUR 46 million for the electricity allowance and EUR 2.9 million for the gas allowance. My Department will spend some EUR119 million on electricity and gas allowances under the household benefits scheme for some 340,000 qualifying customers in 2006.

The cost of the electricity and gas allowances from 2002 to 2005 is as follows:

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 971: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the estimated cost of the recent announcement of the extension of the old age pensioners public transport pass to cover peak hours; the number of qualifying recipients; the estimated cost of the OAP public transport pass per annum from 2002 to date in 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28857/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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It has been agreed between my Department and CIE that all peak travel time restrictions for free travel customers will be removed with effect from 25 September 2006 at an annual cost of some €1.15 million. The free travel scheme permits circa 600,000 recipients to travel free on a range of transport services.

The value of a free travel pass to an individual customer depends on usage and may vary from customer to customer. For accounting purposes within my Department, the average value of a free travel pass is calculated using the total number of recipients and the overall cost of the scheme in the individual year. Based on this method of calculation the average values of a free travel pass since 2002 are as follows: