[PR] All-Ireland Free Travel Scheme

Victor

http://www.welfare.ie/press/pr07/pr020407.html

Historic New Era in All-Island Free Travel For Older People North and South Begins Today

Unrestricted All-Ireland Scheme Opens Up New Travel Opportunities for Tens of Thousands of Senior Citizens

An historic new era in All-Ireland Free Travel began from today with the official start of a seamless all-island, North and South, scheme that opens-up unrestricted travel opportunities for tens of thousands of older people in every part of Ireland.

To celebrate the start of the new unrestricted All-Island travel scheme, the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern T.D. and Minister for Social Affairs, Séamus Brennan T.D., today presented the first group of pensioners to qualify with their new electronic Senior Smartpass cards at Busáras in Dublin

The new scheme will allow seniors (those aged 66 and over) resident in the Republic of Ireland to travel free of charge on all bus and rail services in Northern Ireland. Likewise, seniors (over 65) in Northern Ireland will travel free on bus, rail, air and ferry services participating in the Free Travel scheme in the Republic of Ireland.

In the Republic, more than 430,000 of the 600,000 customers who are in receipt of free travel are aged 66 or over. Current annual expenditure on the scheme is more than €58 million. In the North, some 200,000 senior citizens qualify under the Concessionary Fares Scheme.

While it is not possible at this early stage in the scheme to predict the exact number of customers who will avail of the new travel scheme, an indication is that under the limited "point to point" arrangement that has existed up to now some 220,000 cross-border journeys were made each year.

The Taoiseach, Mr. Ahern, said the start of the All-Ireland free travel initiative was an historic occasion and was another example of how close North-South co-operation can deliver real practical benefits for people throughout the island of Ireland

Mr. Ahern said: "This new scheme opens up a seamless travel system that allows older people to travel anywhere on the island and I would encourage senior citizens to make full use of the new concessions to explore as much of the island as they possibly can through leisure breaks, visiting family or friends, or simply taking day trips to the many attractions the island of Ireland has to offer. I am particularly pleased that in beginning this unrestricted all-island scheme we are delivering on the commitment in the Programme for Government to introduce All-Ireland Free Travel for our older people on all parts of the island".

Minister Brennan said the start-up of the All-Ireland scheme was the culmination of years of discussions and negotiations and was a tribute to the dedication and commitment of all involved.

"This scheme heralds the beginning of a new era in All-Ireland travel opportunities for tens of thousands of older people on the island. It is an initiative that will remove all existing restrictions and help to build new understandings and friendships throughout the island. In many ways it is about more than just new unrestricted travel arrangements, it is a facility that will allow the older people of the island to gain a deeper understanding of each other’s part of the country. It is also a recognition, and a gesture of gratitude, to all of our older people who have contributed so much over so many years to the building and shaping of the modern, progressive island we have today".

Under the new scheme, travel in the Republic will be facilitated by Northern customers using their current Senior Smartpass as a flash-pass. Customers from the Republic wishing to avail of the free travel concession in the North will require a similar electronic Senior Smartpass and this can be obtained through applying to the Department of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA).

Minister Brennan said an indication of the interest in all-island travel was that in the six weeks since the April 2nd start-up date was announced more than 7,000 completed applications for the Senior Smartpass have been received. This number is expected to increase significantly over the coming weeks as the result of a countrywide TV, radio and newspaper information and awareness campaign on the scheme which will begin within days.

To apply for the Senior Smartpass customers need to submit an application form and to have their photographs authenticated at their nearest DSFA local office. The documentation is then forwarded direct to the card producing company for the issue of a Smartpass to the customer.

The Free Travel Scheme was first introduced in 1967 and has undergone significant change in the last number of years.

One of the most significant improvements took place in September 2006 with the removal, after almost 40 years, by Minister Brennan of peak travel time access restrictions applied on all Dublin Bus services and Bus Éireann provincial city services in Cork and Limerick

ENDS

Further information is available at http://www.welfare.ie/topics/allirlfreetrav.html

http://www.welfare.ie/topics/allirlfreetrav.html

All Ireland Free Travel
ALL-IRELAND FREE TRAVEL SCHEME


The Free Travel scheme is being extended from 2nd April 2007 to allow for travel within Northern Ireland. If you are aged 66 years or over, you can travel for free all over this island from this date.

Who can travel under the scheme?

* To qualify for free travel within Northern Ireland, you must be aged 66 or over and satisfy the conditions of the Free Travel Scheme
* Your spouse/partner or companion is not eligible to accompany the Free Travel Passholder for free in Northern Ireland under this scheme
* A spouse/partner or companion may continue to travel with the Free Travel Passholder for free on cross-border journeys (i.e. journeys starting in the Republic of Ireland and ending in Northern Ireland or vice versa).

How does the scheme operate?

* Free Travel Passholders wishing to avail of the All Ireland Free Travel scheme within Northern Ireland must first obtain a Senior SmartPass card.
* A current Free Travel Pass cannot be used for free travel within Northern Ireland, you must have a Senior SmartPass. You should continue to use your current Free Travel Pass for travel within the Republic of Ireland.

How can you get a Senior Smartpass?

* An application form (FTNI1) must be completed (using black pen or biro).
Application forms are available as follows:
-LoCall Leaflet line 1890 20 23 25 open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
-At your Social Welfare Local Office (details of which are listed on the green pages of the phone directory and also on the Department’s website www.welfare.ie/contact/index
-At your local Citizens Information Centre
-Or by emailing your name and address to forms@welfare.ie
(Please note that it is not possible to make Application forms available online at this time).

Having completed your application form.

The completed application must be brought to your nearest Social Welfare Local Office along with:

* A recent passport standard colour photograph
and
* Evidence of identity (driving licence/passport/any other form of photo id, if available)
and
* Evidence of address (a recent utility bill, e.g. electricity/gas/phone/waste charges bill or a bank/building society/credit union statement)
and
* Current Free Travel Pass
* Pension book (if you are in receipt of a pension from this Department and paid by book)
* Following processing of the application a Senior SmartPass card, together with instructions for use, will be posted direct to your home address by post. *It may take up to six weeks to process the application

*As it may take up to six weeks to process applications, customers wishing to avail of the scheme are encouraged to make their application as soon as possible

Zoney

Apparently this state is referred to as "ROI" on the cards which seems unusual for something issued by the Irish authorities.

If space is an issue meaning "Ireland" can't be used, surely "Éire" isn't unintelligible however poor one's grasp of Irish is.

ardmacha

Everyone with these cards lives in Ireland, so you can't just write Éire. Some label is needed to identify which administration is responsible for paying for the travel. The use of the term Ireland or its Irish language equivalent is appropriate for international affairs, passports and the like, but not when the object of the label is to distinguish between two parts of Ireland!

Victor

Some correspondence.

Victor wrote:

Dear Minister Brennan,

I note from http://www.welfare.ie/topics/allirlfreetrav.html that you will not be providing the application form for the Senior Smartpass on-line.

Now, I imagine if printed versions of the form are available, then a computer version is also available. Even converting it from one computer format to another should take at most a few minutes.

So much for e-government. Do you not realise that it is things like this that give the party a bad reputation?

Victor

From : Minister for Social and Family [CAROLINE HOWELL, CO] <MINISTER@welfare.ie>
Sent : Wednesday, April 4, 2007 12:05 PM
To : Victor
Subject : RE: Senior Smartpass on-line form


Dear Victor

Minister Seamus Brennan T.D. has asked me to acknowledge your
recent e-mail can you please forward your postal address so a
reply can issue to you.

Regards
Caroline Howell
Ministers Office

Victor wrote:

Hi Caroline,

I'm sorry, there must be a crossed wire. I was looking for an electronic version, not a postal one.

Victor

lucernarian

Let's not be too harsh on the Govt. They have their and their Ogra branches' Bebo profiles to sort out. A lot of people in FF seem to talk about Bebo as if that was their e-government.

Any political organisation would rather have the press releases online instead of the nitty gritty stuff.

Who is our e-government minister at the moment anyway?

Nice to see the scheme being extended, but what about certain groups of disabled people? There are some pensioners who are able to drive to Northern Ireland (my grandmother was one, RIP) but those who cannot pass for a driving test on medical grounds should be included in a scheme like this. Every single one of those people are dependent on public transport, possibly for their entire life.

Hacketry

To_be_confirmed wrote:

Who is our e-government minister at the moment anyway?

.

Tom Kitt TD (FF chief whip).

'Nuff said.

Del2005

Sorry for dragging up an old tread, but this just occurred to me.
Is giving a free pass to people over 66 years of age not age discrimination? If I apply for this and get refused because I'm not 66 can I take them to the equality tribunal and get compensation?

Mods:- If in wrong Forum plus move or delete.

Victor

Del2005 wrote:

Sorry for dragging up an old tread, but this just occurred to me.
Is giving a free pass to people over 66 years of age not age discrimination? If I apply for this and get refused because I'm not 66 can I take them to the equality tribunal and get compensation?

Mods:- If in wrong Forum plus move or delete.

Discrimination is still legal, especially if it is covered by another act, which I presume this is - I don't know for certain. As I understnad it, non-statutory schemes are covered by the Equal Status Act and a complaint might be successful.