Free Travel Scheme

Free Travel Companion for over 70s from September 2025.

As part of Budget 2025, the government announced that from September 2025, all those aged 70 years or over in receipt of Free Travel will have an entitlement to receive a Free Travel Companion (FT+C) Public Services Card (PSC). This will mean the person aged 70 or over can have another person, aged 16 or older, including their spouse or partner, travel with them for free on all transport services provided as part of the Free Travel scheme.

If you are aged 70 years or over and you currently have a Free Travel ‘Personal’ (FT-P) PSC or ‘Spouse’ (FT+S) PSC, there is no need to contact the Department. Starting from March and through to August 2025, the Department will be writing to you setting out the process involved in ensuring that you will receive a Free Travel Companion (FT+C) PSC.

More information on Free Travel Companion is available.

The Free Travel Scheme, sometimes referred to as Free Travel Pass, is available to:

• everyone who is 66 or over and legally living permanently in the State
• certain people who are under 66 and legally living permanently in the State. If you are under 66, you must meet certain conditions to qualify

The Free Travel Scheme allows you to travel, free of charge, on all public transport owned by the State. This includes bus, rail, Local Link and the Luas, with some exceptions.

Free travel is also available on some services operated by private bus and ferry transport operators. If you would like to find out if a transport operator accepts Free Travel PSCs, the full list is available or you can contact the department to check.

When you use your Free Travel PSC, you must follow the rules that apply to the type of transport you are using.

You cannot use your existing Free Travel PSC for free travel within Northern Ireland. Find out more about how to avail of free travel within Northern Ireland.

Free Travel Companion Public Services Card

From September 2025, if you are aged 70 years or over and you qualify for Free Travel, you will have an entitlement to a Free Travel Companion Public Services Card (PSC). This card allows a companion who is over 16 to travel with you for free. No one else can use your Free Travel PSC, it is for you only.

If you have a Free Travel PSC but you are unable to travel alone due to a medical condition, you can apply for a Free Travel Companion PSC using the:

• FT O/70 application form if you are 70 or over
• FT U/70 application form if you are under 70

Your Public Services Card (PSC) will display one of the following codes in the top left-hand corner to identify if you can avail of free travel with a spouse, partner, cohabitant or companion:

• FT-P - only you can avail of free travel
• FT+S - your spouse, partner or cohabitant can travel with you for free
• FT+C - a companion who is over 16 can travel with you for free

If you are 66 or over

Everyone who is 66 or over and legally living permanently in the State, can use the Free Travel Scheme.

The department will automatically send you a Free Travel PSC if you:

• are aged 66 or over
• are getting a social welfare pension
• have confirmed your identity through the SAFE registration process, and
• your Public Services Card (PSC) has not expired

If you are not SAFE registered, the department will ask you to do so. Once this has been completed, the department will send you your Free Travel PSC.

If your PSC has expired, you must renew it to avail of the Free Travel Scheme. You can do so online at MyWelfare.ie or at your local PSC Centre.

If you are under 66

If you are under 66, you may be entitled to use the Free Travel Scheme if you are legally living permanently in the State and you:

• are getting Disability Allowance, Blind Pension, Carer's Allowance or an Invalidity Pension
• are blind or visually impaired and meet the medical conditions for Blind Pension
• are aged over 17 and under 66, and medically certified as unfit to drive for a period of at least 12 months (effective from 29th July 2024)
• have been getting Incapacity Supplement with Disablement Pension for at least 12 months
• are a specified carer for a person getting Constant Attendance Allowance or Prescribed Relative's Allowance
• are getting a social security invalidity payment (or similar payment) from another EU member state or from a country with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement for at least 12 months

or

• are a widow, widower or a surviving civil partner and you are 60 or over

If you are under 66, have confirmed your identity through the SAFE registration process and your Public Services Card (PSC) has not expired, you will automatically get a Free Travel PSC if you receive:

• Invalidity Pension
• Blind Pension
• Disability Allowance
• Carer's Allowance
• Free Travel for those medically certified as unfit to drive

If you are not SAFE registered, you will be asked to do so before the department sends you your Free Travel PSC.

If your PSC has expired, you must renew it to avail of the Free Travel Scheme. You can do so online at MyWelfare.ie or at your local PSC Centre.

From 29 July 2024, the Free Travel Scheme is being extended to include those aged over 17 and under age 66, and:

• have never been medically fit to drive due to a disability

or

• are medically certified as unfit to drive for a period of at least 12 months.

An application form for this extension to the Free Travel for people medically certified unfit to drive (FTM) can be downloaded.

As part of the application process, you will need to be certified by your doctor as being medically unfit to drive for a period of at least 12 months.

If you are a widow, widower or a surviving civil partner

You may be entitled to the Free Travel Scheme if you are a widow, widower or a surviving civil partner and you are 60 or over. In this case your late spouse or civil partner must have held a Free Travel PSC, and you must be getting one of the following payments:

• 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
• an ordinary Garda Widow’s Pension
• a Death Benefit Pension (under the Occupational Injuries Scheme)

Note: you may be receiving a similar social security pension or benefit from an EU member state or a country with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement.

Northern Ireland

To avail of free travel within Northern Ireland you must:

• be 66 or over
• have a Free Travel PSC, and
• obtain a Senior SmartPass Card

Application forms (FTNI1) for Senior SmartPass Cards are available from your local:

• Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office
• Citizens Information Centre

The completed application form must be brought to your local Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office in person (not posted or emailed). You must also bring the following documents with your application form to your Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office:

• a recent passport standard colour photograph
• evidence of your identity (driving licence/passport/any other form of photo ID, if available)
• evidence of address (a recent utility bill, for example electricity/gas/phone/waste charges bill or a bank/building society/credit union statement) and
• current Free Travel PSC

Your application will be forwarded to the authorities in Northern Ireland who will send your Senior SmartPass card and instructions for use, directly to your home address. It may take up to six weeks to process your application.

How to renew your Senior SmartPass Card for travel within Northern Ireland only

If your Senior SmartPass Card has expired

If your Senior SmartPass Card has expired, contact the SmartPass office directly at:

• Email: smartpass@translink.co.uk
• Phone: 0044 2890759129

Make sure to provide your name, address and PPS number and the SmartPass Office will send a renewal form directly to you.

If your Senior SmartPass Card has been lost, stolen, damaged or if you have changed your name

If your Senior SmartPass Card has been lost, stolen, damaged or if you have changed your name, you can apply for a replacement card using the FTNI2 application form.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has confirmed that all transport operators in the Free Travel Scheme are allowing customers with a Free Travel PSC to continue to avail of free travel even if the card has expired. Free Travel Public Services Cardholders with a card that has expired are advised to renew their card at their earliest convenience.

More information about renewing your Public Services Card (PSC) is available.

To apply for the Free Travel Scheme, please download the relevant application form. You can also get these application forms from your local:

• Intreo Centre or Social Welfare Branch Office
• Citizens Information Centre

Return your completed application form along with your supporting documents to the Free Travel Section.

Application Forms

More information about how to use your Free Travel PSC is available.

Operational guidelines describe the processes and procedures that staff in the department follow when carrying out their work.

• Operational Guidelines: Free Travel Scheme
• Operational Guidelines: Payment-related issues