Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 118: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the action he will take to extend the all-Ireland free travel pass to all free-travel pass holders. [26288/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over. All carers in receipt of carer's allowance and carers of people in receipt of constant attendance or prescribed relative's allowance, regardless of their age, also receive a free travel pass. It is also available to people under age 66 who are in receipt of certain disability type welfare payments, such as disability allowance, invalidity pension and blind person's pension. People resident in the State who are in receipt of a social security invalidity or disability payment from a country covered by EU Regulations, or from a country with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement, and who have been in receipt of this payment for at least 12 months, are also eligible for free travel.

The all Ireland free travel scheme is based on a reciprocal agreement between my Department and the Department for Regional Development in Northern Ireland, which operates the Northern Ireland concessionary fares scheme.

Under the scheme, free travel pass holders age 66 or over can travel free on services operating within Northern Ireland and senior smartpass holders from Northern Ireland can travel free on participating services here. Effectively, institutions in this State and in Northern Ireland recognise free travel arrangements for older people in each jurisdiction as equivalent arrangements.

The concessionary fares scheme in Northern Ireland is available only to people aged 65 and over so it is not possible to develop reciprocal arrangements in respect of free travel pass holders aged under 66. Any extension to the scheme would have to be agreed with the Northern authorities.

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 119: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason he refuses to progress the commitment to establish a new subsidy or assistance on a pilot basis to assist wheelchair users with the cost of taxis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26277/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over. All carers in receipt of carer's allowance and carers of people in receipt of constant attendance or prescribed relative's allowance, regardless of their age, receive a free travel pass. It is also available to people under age 66 who are in receipt of certain disability type welfare payments, such as disability allowance, invalidity pension and blind person's pension.

The scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. These include road, rail and ferry services provided by companies such as Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, as well as Luas and services provided by over 80 private transport operators.

I am aware of the difficulties that some free travel pass holders have in accessing public transport and my officials have discussed this issue with the Commission for Taxi Regulation. Various alternatives to the existing system, including the use of vouchers, have been examined. A study, "A Review of the Free Schemes," published in 2000 under the Department's programme of expenditure reviews concluded that a voucher type system, which would be open to a wide range of transport providers including taxis and hackneys, would be extremely difficult to administer, open to abuse and unlikely to be sufficient to afford an acceptable amount of travel. This position remains unchanged.

I will continue to review the operation of the free travel scheme with a view to identifying the scope for further improvements as resources permit.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 121: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he has received the NESC research on the possible merging of family income supplement and child dependent allowances; and the way he proposes to proceed. [26260/07]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Under the terms of an earlier Social Partnership agreement the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) was asked to examine the feasibility of merging the family income supplement with qualified child increases and possibly including other child supports such as the back to school clothing and footwear allowance, resulting in a single second tier child income support. Such a payment would be aimed specifically at targeting child poverty by channelling resources to low-income families without creating significant disincentives to employment. This commitment to examining such a change was subsequently embodied in the current social partnership agreement 'Towards 2016'.

While the final results of the NESC study have not been received to date, the importance of targeted income support to families and children continues to be a high priority for this Government and the significantly improved and targeted measures announced in Budget 2007 represent substantial improvements in this area.

Family income supplement income thresholds were raised in Budget 2007, increasing the weekly payments of almost all existing FIS recipients by €9 for a one child family, to €111 for a family with eight or more children. Research has shown that poverty is more likely to be concentrated in larger families and this improvement continues the re-focusing of thresholds towards larger families which started in Budget 2006, thereby further targeting resources at low-income households.

In Budget 2007 all three rates of qualified child increase, which had remained unchanged since 1994, were consolidated to a single rate of €22 per week. In addition, the annual back to school clothing and footwear allowance, which provides income support for the poorest families at a particularly difficult time of the year, was increased by €60 for children aged 2 to 11, and by €95 for children aged 12 to 22, bringing the rates of payment to €180 and €285 respectively.

These changes represent a more selective approach to child income support through targeting children in poorer households while at the same time limiting the extent to which employment disincentives are increased. Maintaining this balance will remain a priority in consideration of future policy changes in this area.

The merging of family income supplement and qualified child increases would provide an opportunity to further target income support at the poorest families. However, the issues involved are complex and there are technical and policy challenges to be overcome.

NESC research on the subject is expected to be available soon. The Council's analysis of these issues will, when received, be of assistance in informing the future direction of child income support policy.