Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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116. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the entitlement to avail of the free travel scheme for civil servants who retired early on health grounds who are on Civil Service pension only and who would be in receipt of invalidity pension but for the fact that they are civil servants; if she will outline such an individual's current entitlement to the free travel scheme; if she proposes to introduce an equivalent ruling allowing entitlement to proven cases who were forced to retire on health grounds; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43911/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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There are currently in excess of 770,000 customers eligible for free travel and when spousal and companion passes are taken into account, there are over 1.2 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. Civil servants recruited before 1995 make a reduced PRSI contribution and do not have an entitlement to invalidity pension. I have no plans to change the current qualifying criteria for the scheme.