Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The person concerned had an entitlement to Free Travel which was linked to their Disability Allowance payment. The entitlement of the person concerned to Disability Allowance ceased in February 2018 as they had commenced employment.

Under my Department's Make Work Pay initiative, the person concerned was entitled to retain their entitlement to Free Travel for a period of 5 years after taking up employment. This 5 year period ended in February 2023 and, therefore, the person's Free Travel entitlement has accordingly been stopped. The Make Work Pay initiative is for people who are in receipt of a long-term disability payment and where they move off that payment to take up employment.

There is no record of the person concerned having a claim for Illness Benefit. The person did have a claim for Supplementary Welfare Allowance from November 2019 to February 2021. It should be noted that Supplementary Welfare Allowance and Illness Benefit are not qualifying schemes for receipt of Free Travel.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.