Purple tickets on Irish Rail what are they?

bigpink

Seen 2 guys late 20s get 2 purple tickets ahead of me,is this free travel or how does it work

They didnt seem like people in need cause they managed to have a cider party on the train

sitstill

Those are free social welfare pass tickets. They obviously have a reason why they are unable to work and so are dependent on free travel from the state.

bigpink

So if your on the dole you get free train travel?

LXFlyer

No.

Apart from the over-66 group, the following is the current position.

If you are under age 66 and permanently living in the State, you will qualify for a Free Travel Pass if one of the statements below applies to you:
You are getting one of the following payments:
Invalidity Pension,
Blind Pension,
Disability Allowance,
Incapacity Supplement or Workmen's Compensation with Disablement Pension, for at least 12 months,
Carer's Allowance, (you may get a single status pass only, if you are under age 66),
a social security invalidity payment, or a similar payment, for at least 12 months, from a country covered by EC Regulations, or from a country with which Ireland has a Bilateral Social Security Agreement. See below for details.

You are a specified carer for a person getting Constant Attendance Allowance or Prescribed Relatives Allowance from this Department (you may get a single status pass only, if you are under age 66),
or
You live in a Health Service Executive (HSE) approved residential care and you were previously getting either Disability Allowance (from this Department) or Disabled Person's Maintenance Allowance (from the Health Service Executive),
or
You are blind or severely visually impaired and you satisfy the medical conditions for the Blind Pension,
or
You are a widow, widower or surviving civil partner aged 60 to 65 inclusive and your late spouse or civil partner held a Free Travel Pass and at the time of their death, you were permanently living together. In this case, you must be getting one of the following payments: State Pension (Transition) (from age 65),
Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's Contributory Pension,
Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's Non-Contributory Pension,
One-Parent Family Payment,
Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's Pension under the Occupational Injuries Benefits Scheme,
a similar social security payment from a country covered by EC Regulations, or from a country with which Ireland has a Bilateral Social Security Agreement. (See below for details.),
an ordinary Garda Widow's Pension from the Department of Justice and Law Reform.

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Publications/SW40/Pages/2HowdoIqualifyforfreetravel.aspx

bigpink

Christ garda widow pensions a new one ive heard!!

Always seen the scrotes getting there free tickets and be on the train with drink and laptops what a country

foggy_lad

bigpink wrote: »

Christ garda widow pensions a new one ive heard!!

Always seen the scrotes getting there free tickets and be on the train with drink and laptops what a country

Are the disabled not allowed own a laptop or have a few cans on the train anymore? Lets lock them all up in some asylum again and just ignore the elderly and maybe they will die off a lot faster?

bigpink

I wish it was,ha dto get the train to dublin alot lately and noticed all the "free travel" people

As regards my garda widows pension comment seems wrong also,people from all walk of life can become widows

bigpink

Drinking should be banned on trains full stop IMO,not very fair on people having pissed people beside you

bigpink

foggy_lad wrote: »

Are the disabled not allowed own a laptop or have a few cans on the train anymore? Lets lock them all up in some asylum again and just ignore the elderly and maybe they will die off a lot faster?

These were 2 guys in there 20s,seem to have no problem getting there free tickets and getting to to the train fast

foggy_lad

bigpink wrote: »

These were 2 guys in there 20s,seem to have no problem getting there free tickets and getting to to the train fast

But you don't know what illness or ailments they might have had? they may have been HIV positive or deaf or had epilepsy or mental health condition or any number of conditions which are not always visible to onlookers.

There is also a chance they bought the passes in the local pub or were using passes belonging to a grandparent or dead relative as often happens.

n97 mini

foggy_lad wrote: »

But you don't know what illness or ailments they might have had?

They also may not have had any disability.

The Irish Examiner wrote:

The Department of Social Protection has identified a range of sectors where social welfare fraud is a problem, including markets, couriers, clothes recycling, the security industry, haulage, the food sector and taxi industry.

They have identified people engaged in multiple claiming or impersonating others, foreign nationals who are not resident here and claiming benefit and people abusing disability fraud as problem areas.

Call to establish social welfare fraud squad similar to the CAB model

I can't find the article now, but I read somewhere that it's estimated 20% of disability claims are fraudulent.