Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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169. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated annual additional cost of extending the free travel scheme to people with disabilities who have a long-term illness card but not a medical card and who do not receive any qualifying social welfare payments; if she will provide a breakdown of the relevant data and assumptions underpinning the estimate; if no estimate can be provided at this time, if she will provide a breakdown of as much of the relevant data that is known; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11997/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Free Travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are over one million customers with direct eligibility. The estimated expenditure on free travel in 2023 is €95 million.

Providing an accurate projection of the cost of extending the Free Travel scheme to those who have a long-term illness card is very difficult as the cost is determined by the usage of the extra passes provided and not by the number of newly qualified people. The cost of the measure would also depend on the type of free travel pass issued and the duration any such pass is issued for.

Furthermore, my Department does not hold data on the number of people who have a long-term illness card or how many of this cohort already have a free travel pass.

Therefore, my Department is not able to provide an accurate estimate cost of the measure outlined by the Deputy.

It is important to note that, in general, access to a free travel pass for those aged under 66 is a secondary benefit linked to a person being in receipt of certain primary Social Protection payments such as Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Carer’s Allowance, Blind Pension and Partial Capacity Benefit.

Extending the eligibility of the free travel scheme to the cohort of people the Deputy has suggested would change the nature of the scheme and would require additional funding and administrative staff for the free travel scheme and would have to be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations.

Finally, the Department of Social Protection provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who have an urgent need, which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers and include help towards recurring travel costs that cannot be met from the person's own resources and are deemed to be necessary.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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170. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated annual additional cost of extending the free travel scheme plus a free travel companion card to all children in receipt of domiciliary care allowance; if she will provide a breakdown of the relevant data and assumptions underpinning the estimate; if no estimate can be provided at this time, if she will provide a breakdown of as much of the relevant data that is known; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11998/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Free Travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are over one million customers with direct eligibility. The estimated expenditure on free travel in 2023 is €95 million.

Providing an accurate projection of the cost of extending the free travel scheme to all children in respect of whom a Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is being paid is very difficult as the cost is determined by the usage of the extra passes provided and not by the number of newly qualified people. The fact that many operators have reduced fares for children and that in some cases children under five years of age can travel for free would also have to be taken into account.

Therefore, my Department is not able to provide an accurate estimate cost of the measure outlined by the Deputy.

Any decision to extend the Free Travel scheme to all children in respect of whom a DCA is being paid would require additional funding for the free travel scheme and would have to be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations.

DCA is a monthly payment to the carer of a child with a disability. The allowance may be used for the additional costs involved in caring for the child and this may include additional transport costs. In Budget 2023 the rate of DCA payable was increased from €309.50 to €330 a month. In addition, all recipients of DCA qualify for the Carer's Support Grant in June of each year. The current rate is €1,850 per year for each carer.

Finally, the Department of Social Protection provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who have an urgent need, which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers and include help towards recurring travel costs that cannot be met from the person's own resources and are deemed to be necessary.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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171. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated annual additional cost of extending the free travel scheme to all recipients of the carer’s support grant; if she will provide a breakdown of the relevant data and assumptions underpinning the estimate; if no estimate can be provided at this time, if she will provide a breakdown of as much of the relevant data that is known; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11999/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Free Travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are over one million customers with direct eligibility. The estimated expenditure on free travel in 2023 is €95 million.

Providing an accurate projection of the cost of extending the free travel scheme to those in receipt of the Carer's Support Grant is very difficult, as the cost is determined by the usage of the extra passes provided and not by the number of newly qualified people. The cost of the measure would also depend on the type of free travel pass issued and the duration any such pass is issued for. Therefore, my Department is not able to provide an accurate estimate cost of the measure outlined by the Deputy.

It is important to note that, in general, access to a free travel pass for those aged under 66 is a secondary benefit linked to a person being in receipt of certain primary Social Protection payments such as Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension, Carer’s Allowance, Blind Pension and Partial Capacity Benefit.

The Carer’s Support Grant is an annual payment made to carers who get Carer's Allowance, Carer's Benefit or Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA). It can also be paid to certain other carers providing full-time care. The Carer's Support Grant is therefore not a primary Social Protection payment and is in many cases linked to the payment of other Social Protection payments.

Finally, the Department of Social Protection provides Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme for people who have an urgent need, which they cannot meet from their own resources. These payments are available through our Community Welfare Officers and include help towards recurring travel costs that cannot be met from the person's own resources and are deemed to be necessary.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.