End the free travel pass? Possible solution?

donutheadhomer · 13-11-2014 01:03AM #1

http://www.limerickpost.ie/2014/11/12/pensioners-arrested-in-cira-probe/

I blame Charlie Haughey for allowing these auld ones travel wherever for free...

donutheadhomer · 13-11-2014 01:17AM

ok I stand corrected - free travel is in 26 county area

Kevin McCloud · 13-11-2014 01:18AM

Have they free train too?

donutheadhomer · 13-11-2014 01:20AM

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

Have they free train too?

I believe so - limerick to newry is a long distance for whatever shenanigans these pensioners were up to - if we withdrew the free travel scheme they would think twice about paying for train fare from pension

Kevin McCloud · 13-11-2014 01:22AM

donutheadhomer wrote: »

I believe so - limerick to newry is a long distance for whatever shenanigans these pensioners were up to - if we withdrew the free travel scheme they would think twice about paying for train fare from pension

Long journey for sure, they must have some size of a bladder.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy · 13-11-2014 01:22AM

How the feck did you manage to link two pensioners who were involved in dissident republicanism to Charlie Haughey giving out free travel passes?

donutheadhomer · 13-11-2014 01:23AM

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

Long journey for sure, they must have some size of a bladder.

Huh

coolhull · 13-11-2014 01:24AM

donutheadhomer wrote: »

http://www.limerickpost.ie/2014/11/12/pensioners-arrested-in-cira-probe/

I blame Charlie Haughey for allowing these auld ones travel wherever for free...

Would I be right in assuming you don't (yet) have a free travel pass?

donutheadhomer · 13-11-2014 01:25AM

The Cunning Linguist wrote: »

How the feck did you manage to link two pensioners who were involved in dissident republicanism to Charlie Haughey giving out free travel passes?

See post 4. CAB seizes assets. Maybe curtails their free travel to cut down on this kinda activity

hfallada · 13-11-2014 01:26AM

But OP you would be restricting them to their house. They need to get out and about etc.

Personally I think its disgraceful that a students ticket is only 20% off the full adult price for Dublin Bus. Where as a tax saver ticket is over 50% off an adult ticket. Every where else in Europe gives students either free travel on their public transport or gives them 50% off their ticket. In Ireland you end up paying more than an adult on a tax saver ticket. Its ridiculous.

donutheadhomer · 13-11-2014 01:27AM

coolhull wrote: »

Would I be right in assuming you don't (yet) have a free travel pass?

Correct. But I'm not in favour of a blanket ban - pardon the pun but just a selective ban. Article says these pensioners were questioned before for similar.

donutheadhomer · 13-11-2014 01:28AM

hfallada wrote: »

But OP you would be restricting them to their house. They need to get out and about etc.

Personally I think its disgraceful that a students ticket is only 20% off the full adult price for Dublin Bus. Where as a tax saver ticket is over 50% off an adult ticket. Every where else in Europe gives students either free travel on their public transport or gives them 50% off their ticket. In Ireland you end up paying more than an adult on a tax saver ticket. Its ridiculous.

I take it you didn't read the article in first post the

wp_rathead · 13-11-2014 01:29AM

It is suspected that some of those arrested were previously involved with provisional republicanism and are being questioned in connection with the activities of the Continuity IRA.

They should make roads illegal - these scumbags seem to be using them too

donutheadhomer · 13-11-2014 01:30AM

hfallada wrote: »

But OP you would be restricting them to their house. They need to get out and about etc.

Personally I think its disgraceful that a students ticket is only 20% off the full adult price for Dublin Bus. Where as a tax saver ticket is over 50% off an adult ticket. Every where else in Europe gives students either free travel on their public transport or gives them 50% off their ticket. In Ireland you end up paying more than an adult on a tax saver ticket. Its ridiculous.

Rather restrict this activity further

donutheadhomer · 13-11-2014 01:31AM

wprathead wrote: »

They should make roads illegal - these scumbags seem to be using them too

Only saying it is something worth considering.

Frosty McSnowballs · 13-11-2014 01:33AM

Get rid of public transport, that will learn them.

masculinist · 13-11-2014 01:36AM

Free travel extends to the rest of Europe in a lot of cases. I thought the 6 countys too. Irish senior citizens get free travel in Malaga for example. They want to encourage them to spend their pensions there.

I just thought of a business idea with low start up costs. Senior Citizen couriers :pac:

Bipolar Joe · 13-11-2014 01:46AM

Just get rid of old people, Logan's Run style.

FloatingVoter · 13-11-2014 01:57AM

Old people vote. Idiots who start these threads on Boards tend to list the cool secondhand reasons why they don't vote. Guess who the politicians give a damn about ?

Micky Dolenz · 13-11-2014 02:05AM

Coffin dodgers aren't to be trusted. They are cute though and have some smashing stories.

RobYourBuilder · 13-11-2014 02:18AM

I think we should abolish pensions and free travel for pensioners. Then reinstate them during the mid 2050's.

lulu1 · 13-11-2014 02:28AM

I think we should send all pensioners to live with you op and you could keep an eye on them. Less worry for us

13-11-2014 02:56AM

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Old people vote. Idiots who start these threads on Boards tend to list the cool secondhand reasons why they don't vote. Guess who the politicians give a damn about ?

Thats the main point in this argument. Pensioners vote and will mobilise quickly to any threat of losing anything.

However, along with other issues this is one in which some government will have to take a hard stand and make an unpopular decision. Looking forward we need to be realistic. As the number of people of 66 and over increases and with increases in fuel prices and other costs inevitable, the ordinary commuters cannot continue to bear this burden.

Personally I think free travel should be restricted to within a certain radius (approx 50kms or the distance to your nearest city if more than 50kms away), after that I believe at the very least they should have to pay a nominal amount. Also many people are unaware of the fact that pensioners are able to bring a 'carer' with them for free, when often the person is more than capable of fending for themselves.

The price of fares is continuing to rocket, when we should be looking to keep them as low as possible and reduce the number of cars on the road.

Long term, due to the fact there is next to zero long term planning, the country will not be able to be paying the level of pensions it is paying now as there will be almost twice as many people over the age of 66 and they will have to push the retirement age out.

People over 66 have worked hard all their lives and I wouldn't be advocating any significant cuts but for once in this country someone has to look 20/25 years down the line and recognise that taxpayers will not be able to provide the level of benefits to pensioners that they now get and the government expenditure will have to be reviewed accordingly.

Of course in reality this won't happen until we start to realise the crisis we are facing when its too late.

FloatingVoter · 13-11-2014 03:28AM

The "carers travel free" pass is related to the disability pass. I have yet to see a bus refusing paying passengers because it was overcrowded with pensioners. Do pensioners occasionally "abuse" th pass and go cross country to Galway for a pint of a Sunday. Yes. Maybe once or twice a year.
The overpricing on public transport is related to the Irish peoples addiction to car travel. I live in city centre Dublin. Outside my window, 60% of the neighbours have local jobs and a car. They'd be quicker walking to work in some cases. But having a car is part of the dream (along with the mortgage).
Another reason is pencil-pushers and consultants. Every time you see some pointy head discussing the latest academic survey that shows that buses make more sense than cars, that's an increase in your fare. It takes one person to drive a train. It takes 200 knobheads to study same train and come up with myriad reasons why they should be in their excuse of a job. They'll usually produce statistics, unreadable reports and recommendations for the formation of a committee. All costing money.
Meanwhile Thomas the train driver and Frank the 'auld lad on the scenic route for his pint are getting on with things and bothering nobody.

masculinist · 13-11-2014 06:25AM

FloatingVoter wrote: »

The overpricing on public transport is related to the Irish peoples addiction to car travel.

Dublin Bus is constantly taking the urine with their above fuel inflation fare increases to support an inefficient company hence my basic 1 litre engined car is still cheaper than Dublin Bus despite being taxed into outer space. One passenger and it blows Dublin Bis out of the water in terms of cost savings. On top of this the time saved and lifestyle enhancements are worth an awful lot more.

Annasopra · 13-11-2014 08:06AM

masculinist wrote: »

Free travel extends to the rest of Europe in a lot of cases. I thought the 6 countys too. Irish senior citizens get free travel in Malaga for example.

Really?

Annasopra · 13-11-2014 08:09AM

masculinist wrote: »

Dublin Bus is constantly taking the urine with their above fuel inflation fare increases to support an inefficient company hence my basic 1 litre engined car is still cheaper than Dublin Bus despite being taxed into outer space. One passenger and it blows Dublin Bis out of the water in terms of cost savings. On top of this the time saved and lifestyle enhancements are worth an awful lot more.

The cost of the car plus the road tax plus the nct plus the insurance plus the petrol works out cheaper?

stimpson · 13-11-2014 10:06AM

FloatingVoter wrote: »

The overpricing on public transport is related to the Irish peoples addiction to car travel. I live in city centre Dublin. Outside my window, 60% of the neighbours have local jobs and a car. They'd be quicker walking to work in some cases. But having a car is part of the dream (along with the mortgage).

I live in Dublin. 2 minutes walk to my nearest bus stop. It's quicker and cheaper for me to take my car to work. Even when I worked in the City centre it took me half an hour door to door as opposed to the guts of an hour. And my car turns up on time. And there's no scumbags drinking in the back seats. And it's not too hot/too cold. And there isn't the smell of BO coming from the seat beside me.

There are many reasons people love their cars.

Valetta · 13-11-2014 10:40AM

Nowhere in the article does it mention anything about free travel.

biko · 13-11-2014 10:41AM

Let the old folks be in the IRA. At least it gets them out of the house.

masculinist · 13-11-2014 12:45PM

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Really?

Many countries especially Mediterranean want to encourage seniors to spend their retirement and pension there. Especially the areas with not much industry of their own. If you add someone to your population who has a pension , its like adding an extra salary to your economy , isnt it especially if they are resident and pay their income taxes there. If you think how much subsidy we gave e.g Dell in Limerick, senior citizen travel produces a lot of benefits per 'wagepacket'. If we keep it , we might encourage more of them to come from the USA and visit the ''mother country'' etc . Seniors have a lot of time on their hands to travel and spend their pensions.

An elderly relative of mine in Malaga apparently travels for free from the Airport on the train to his Villa.

A quick Google results in this

http://www.lovegranada.com/transport/senior-citizen-pass/

He gets one and hes a millionaire on paper ...with the recession his official income might be devastated and lockedup into his assets [its means tested but from him it doesnt seem to be] but somehow he manages to get a pass for Malaga. They at least have it for their residents. It seems to be reciprocal if you delve deeply enough. Under EU regs, if you offer a benefit to your own citizens you also have to offer it to people who have a right to travel there from other parts of ther EU [or something like that] so it could be a reciprocal arrangement.

End the free travel pass? Possible solution?

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