Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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1866. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the current cost of the free travel scheme; the number of participants; the projected cost of introducing free travel to students namely those aged 18 to 24 who hold a PSC card; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44027/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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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. 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 70 private transport operators.

Over 1,135,000 people have direct access to the scheme and the estimated budget in 2025 is €107.6 million.

Providing an accurate projection of the cost of extending the Free Travel scheme to students aged between 18-24 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 students would also have to be taken into account.

Furthermore, my Department does not hold data on those aged between 18 and 24 who are students.

The extension of the Free Travel scheme to students who hold a PSC card aged between 18 and 24 would have to be considered in a wider budgetary and policy context, having regard to other competing demands for scarce resources.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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1867. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the dates the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowances will be paid; the additional cost in a full year to increase each rate by €100; the estimated amount it would cost to extend it to foster carers allowance; the additional cost to provide the current payment to all school going children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44028/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme provides a once-off payment to eligible families to assist with the costs of clothing and footwear when children start or return to school each autumn. The scheme operates from June to September each year.

The rates of payment for the 2025 scheme are €160 for children aged between 4 and 11 years and €285 for children aged 12 and over.

This year, the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payments began to issue from the week beginning 14 July. To date, 130,300 families in respect of 230,200 children have been awarded the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance and these families have received their payment as outlined in their award notification.

Officers are processing applications in date of receipt order. Once the application is awarded, the payment will issue to the customer within the next 3 working days. The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme remains open to new applications on www.mywelfare.ie/ until 30 September.

149,510 families in respect of 264,400 children were awarded the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance payment in 2024. Assuming a similar number qualify for the payment, the additional cost to increase each rate by €100 is €26.4 million in a full year.

This year, the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance eligibility has been extended to include children for whom Foster Care Allowance is being paid. Foster Parents are eligible for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance once they meet the qualifying conditions for the payment. It is estimated that up to 2,300 children, for whom Foster Care Allowance is being paid, will now qualify for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance at a cost of €522,880.