Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 September 2025
156. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to extend the free travel pass to children in receipt of domiciliary care allowance; the number of children who would benefit; the estimated cost of this extension; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50488/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Programme for Government 2025 has committed to examining extending the Free Travel scheme to include children benefitting from the Domiciliary Care Allowance.
Domiciliary Care Allowance is a non means tested payment payable at €360 a month per child. In addition, all recipients of Domiciliary Care Allowance qualify for the Carer's Support Grant in June of each year. The current rate is €2,000 per year.
Based on 68,559 children benefitting from the Domiciliary Care Allowance, it is estimated that extending the Free Travel scheme to include those children, would cost in the region of €5.82 million in a full year.
The modelling of the cost is complex and needs to take account of multiple factors, including all children under nine already have free travel on public transport and children under 16 benefit from significantly reduced rates. It is also important to remember that it is the parent or guardian who receives Domiciliary Care Allowance - it is not paid directly to the child.
The Programme for Government commitments to make public transport more affordable and accessible for families, has seen the extension of free travel on all Transport for Ireland services to all children between 5 to 8 years of age. This expansion will benefit almost 236,000 additional children and their families.
As the Deputy will understand, it is simply not possible to deliver all things at once and the extension of free travel, along with other potential budget measures will have to be considered in the context of the budgetary resources available.
I trust that this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
