Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will consider changing the qualifying criteria for free travel in respect of epilepsy patients who risk losing their jobs as a result of transportation difficulties as a result of their illness. [7595/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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There are currently in excess of 745,000 customers eligible for free travel and when spousal and companion passes are taken into account, there are over 1.1 million customers with some free travel eligibility. Expenditure on this scheme was frozen at 2010 levels by the previous Government. The available expenditure for the free travel scheme in 2013 is €77 million.

The free travel scheme is currently available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over, to carers and to customers under 66 who are in receipt of certain disability type payments. The scheme permits customers to travel for free on most CIE public transport services, LUAS and a range of services offered by up to 90 private operators in various parts of the country.

Customers aged under 66 years must be in receipt of a qualifying payment from my Department in order to qualify for a free travel pass. I have no plans to change the current qualifying criteria for the scheme.

Given the increasing number of recipients and the funding pressures, my Department along with representatives from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the National Transport Authority are currently reviewing the free travel scheme. The work of this group is expected to conclude mid-2013.