Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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150. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she has initiated the process to establish a dedicated and appropriately resourced employment status unit in the Workplace Relations Commission to examine and provide determinations on employment status regardless of whether they relate to social Insurance, employment or tax obligations as recommended in the report by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands in its Examination of Bogus Self-Employment of 16 June 2021. [35299/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I note the publication of the June 2021 'Report - Examination of Bogus Self-Employment' and the recommendations therein of the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development, and the Islands. My officials are considering those recommendations that pertain to my Department.

The Deputy, however, will wish to be aware that responsibility for the Workplace Relations Commission, and any recommendation relevant to the extension of its remit and the resourcing of same, falls to my colleague, An Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar T.D.

I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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151. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she plans to expand the free travel scheme for Budget 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35392/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The free travel scheme provides free travel on public 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. There are currently approximately 999,000 customers with direct eligibility with an annual allocation of €95 million.

People who are eligible for a free travel pass are those residents in Ireland aged over 66, those in receipt of certain social welfare payments, or those who satisfy the visual impairment condition for the blind pension.

Customers of the scheme who are married, cohabiting or in a civil partnership receive a pass that allows their spouse / civil partner / cohabitant to travel with them for free. Certain incapacitated customers can get a companion pass which allows any person over age 16 years to accompany them for free.

The Department of Social Protection is responsible for the administration of the Free Travel Scheme. The Scheme is non-statutory, having been introduced and extended by Ministerial Announcement. Decisions in relation to applications for non-statutory schemes are made by officers of the Department based on published guidelines setting out the conditions of entitlement in detail.

The scale, extent and adequacy of public transport service provision, urban and rural, fall under the remit of my colleague Minister Eamonn Ryan at the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications.

If the free travel scheme was to be extended to certain groups or cohorts not in receipt of qualifying social welfare payments but based on a medical condition, a medical assessment process would be required, significantly changing the nature of the scheme. Any decision to change the eligibility criteria of the free travel scheme along such lines would have significant costs and require additional administrative processes to be put in place. Accordingly, it could only be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations.

The Government will finalise its consideration of the Budget in the coming months having regard to all of its commitments.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.