Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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1234. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the full-year cost of providing all persons in receipt of the long-term illness scheme card with a free travel pass. [46419/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The current free travel 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 almost 80 private transport operators. There are approximately 897,000 customers in receipt of free travel.

Persons resident in Ireland who are over 66 and persons in receipt of certain social welfare payments are eligible for the scheme. The social welfare payments that allow persons aged under 66 to a free travel pass include disability allowance, invalidity pension, carer’s allowance and partial capacity benefit. The Long Term Illness Scheme is administered by the Health Service Executive and not by my Department.

The information sought by the Deputy on the estimated full year cost of providing all persons in receipt of long term illness scheme card with a free travel pass is not available to my Department. Any such cost would manifest itself in the form of requests for increased funding by transport providers, based on increased numbers using the scheme on their service, and so would depend on a number of factors including the type of travel pass issued (e.g., single or companion pass), the number of journeys made using the free travel pass, the prevailing fares, and the type of journeys undertaken, i.e., rail, bus or Luas.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.