Dublin South West\u00a0Sinn F\u00e9in TD, Se\u00e1n Crowe, has described a Government proposal to bring in a \u20ac50 annual charge to replace the Free Travel Pass as a non-runner and said that the new proposed charge needs to be consigned to the bin.<\/p>\n
The proposal was contained in internal Government report that was supposedly leaked to the media. Other proposals in the report include a move towards reduced fares rather than the current free fares system, and a fresh review and stricter interpretation of the medical requirements for companion passes for people who are unable to travel alone because of impairment.<\/p>\n
Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Travel Pass provides free travel for pensioners, people with disabilities and carers. Over 1.2 million people across the State are currently entitled to Pass. Just under half of those in receipt of the Pass are in receipt of a State pension, over 20% qualify for disability payment, and 7% are carers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Pass provides a vital service for those who have already contributed to society, those who need the Pass to attend hospital appointments, and a vital lifeline for people with disabilities. The Pass helps ensure against isolation for people in rural areas and contributes to social inclusion for many of those who qualify.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vast majority of people in receipt of the Travel Pass rely on it for their travel needs. It is vital that it is protected and that it remains a free travel pass. The vast majority of those who have a Pass are also reliant on a tiny or modest income, and any additional charge would have a profound effect on their lives.<\/p>\n
“The current Government needs to realise that any attempt to add an additional charge will be resisted by all those availing of the Pass, including their families, their friends, and their communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Think Tank who came up with this mean and unfair proposal needs to think again. This proposal needs to be rubbished, consigned to the bin, and not recycled.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dublin South West\u00a0Sinn F\u00e9in TD, Se\u00e1n Crowe, has described a Government proposal to bring in a \u20ac50 annual charge to replace the Free Travel Pass as a non-runner and said that the new proposed charge needs to be consigned to the bin. The proposal was contained in internal Government report that was supposedly leaked to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[276,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-free-travel-pass","category-transport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2955"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2956,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955\/revisions\/2956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}