Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 930 and 935 together.

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 2024 is €104 million.

Since 2017, people moving from certain long-term disability schemes such as Disability Allowance are able retain their Free Travel entitlement for a further period of 5 years, provided they previously had an entitlement to Free Travel.

As part of Budget 2024 I was particularly pleased to extend my Department’s Free Travel Pass to support people who are medically certified as unable to drive.

The measure will expand access to the Free Travel scheme to:

• People who have never been able to drive due to a disability.
• Drivers who have a license and have been deemed medically unable to drive for a period of one year or longer.

There will be no requirement to satisfy a means test or that the person be in receipt of a Social Welfare payment to qualify for the medical free travel pass.

My officials are currently working to implement the reforms, including the drafting of relevant qualifying criteria and development of administrative and IT systems as necessary. The expected implementation date for the measure is July 2024.

Any further expansion of the Free Travel scheme in excess of the measures announced in Budget 2024 would require additional funding for the free travel scheme and would have to be considered in the context of overall budgetary negotiations.

Finally, as the Medical Card is under the remit of the Minister for Health any queries in relation to the retention of a Medical Card should be directed to that Department.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Domiciliary Care Allowance is a monthly payment to a parent or guardian for a child aged up to 16 who has a severe disability and requires care and attention substantially over and above that required by other children their age. It ceases to be payable when a child reaches 16 years of age. The young person can then apply for Disability Allowance if they meet the eligibility requirements.

Under Budget 2024, I increased the rate of Domiciliary Care Allowance to €340 per month. Parents or guardians in receipt of this allowance may also receive the annual Carer’s Support Grant of €1,850 each June.

The Government committed as part of the Roadmap for Social Inclusion to develop and consult on proposals to restructure long-term disability payments and to simplify the system.

One of the Green Paper’s proposals is to extend Domiciliary Care Allowance to age 18. This recognises that young people aged 16 and 17 are usually still in the care of their parents and guardians.

In line with this change, the Green Paper proposes to raise the qualifying age for Disability Allowance to 18 to create a common approach to disability payments, with the qualifying age for Domiciliary Care Allowance being extended up to age 18. This proposal would bring Disability Allowance’s age criterion in line with the rest of the social welfare system, as all other working age payments become payable at age 18.

The reconfiguration of Disability Allowance and Domiciliary Care Allowance has been highlighted in a wide range of reports going as far back as the Report of the Commission on Social Welfare in 1986, and more recently, in the May Work Pay report in 2017.

Under the proposals in the Green Paper there would be a number of years of a transition whereby 16 year olds could receive Disability Allowance to avoid a potential loss of income. Thus, to calculate the costs associated with increase the allowance to age 18, we have made the assumptions for the first year after the transitional arrangement, where all 16 year olds would remain on the Domiciliary Care Allowance. Based on figures from December 2023 the proposed change would cost approximately €31 million in the first year of payment. The following year, where the allowance becomes eligible to both 17- and 16-year-olds, it would cost an estimated €64.3 million.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.