Publication
Operational Guidelines: Free Travel Scheme
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
The Free Travel Scheme is non-statutory, having been introduced and extended by Ministerial Announcement.
The Free Travel Scheme is administered by Free Travel Section. For contact details, see ‘Contact Us’ section at the end of this guide.
The Free Travel Scheme operated by the Department of Social Protection, allows people who are aged 66 years or over and who are legally and permanently residing in the State, to travel free of charge on most CIE public transport services, LUAS, as well as on the public transport services of many private operators in various parts of the country. Certain incapacitated people under age 66 are also entitled to free travel. Those medically certified as unfit to drive for a period of at least 12 months may also qualify for Free Travel.
CIE services are provided by Irish Rail, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus. A list of private operators who participate in the Free Travel scheme is also available at: www.gov.ie/freetravel.
Permanent residents of the Aran Islands and Tory Island may avail of Free Travel on scheduled private air services between the Islands and the mainland. Free Travel on these services, to and from the Aran Islands (only) is available to non-resident Free Travel Card Holders at a reduced rate - See Appendix 2 of this Guide for full details.
Free Travel is also available on Cross-Border bus and rail journeys between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Details of the special arrangements which apply to Cross-Border Free Travel are given in Appendix 3 of this Guide.
In addition, the All Ireland Free Travel Scheme will entitle Free Travel recipients aged 66 years or over to travel for free on transport services operating internally within Northern Ireland, using a Senior SmartPass card. See Appendix 4 for full details.
You will qualify for Free Travel, if you are legally resident and living permanently in the State on an all-year-round basis and are aged 66 years or over. If you are under age 66, in addition to permanently residing in the State you must satisfy any of the conditions listed from (a) to (e) below.
Also, to avail of the Free Travel entitlement, you must register for a Public Services Card. When registered, a Public Services Card which identifies entitlement to Free Travel will be issued.
You must satisfy any of the conditions listed from (a) to (e) below:
a. be a recipient of one of the following payments
b. be a specified carer for a person getting Constant Attendance Allowance or Prescribed Relatives Allowance from this department (you may get a single status card only, if you are under age 66)
c. be blind or severely visually impaired and you satisfy the medical conditions for a Blind Pension.
d. be a widowed person or surviving civil partner aged between 60 and 65 years inclusive, whose late spouse or civil partner held a Free Travel Card or Paper Pass from this department, and who at the time of their death, resided with them on a permanent basis, and who is now receiving one of the following payments and who satisfies the other conditions of the scheme:
e. be aged over 17 and under 66, and medically certified as unfit to drive for a period of at least 12 months.
| Austria | Belgium | Bulgaria |
| Croatia | Cyprus | Czech Republic |
| Denmark | Estonia | Finland |
| France | Germany | Greece |
| Hungary | Iceland | Ireland |
| Italy | Latvia | Liechtenstein |
| Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malta |
| Netherlands | Norway | Poland |
| Portugal | Romania | Slovakia |
| Slovenia | Spain | Sweden |
| Switzerland |
| Australia | Austria | Canada |
| Japan | Korea | New Zealand |
| Quebec | The Swiss Confederation | The United Kingdom |
| The United States Of America |
From 6 April 2017 if you are in receipt of a long-term disability payment and move off the payment to get a job, you will retain your entitlement to Free Travel for a period of five years, providing all other qualifying conditions for the Free Travel Scheme are satisfied. The following schemes are considered as long-term disability payments and you will be entitled to retain your Free Travel entitlement for a further period of 5 years, where you previously had the entitlement to Free Travel on the scheme(s):
A Free Travel Card will be issued automatically at age 66 if you are registered for the Public Services Card and getting a pension from this department. Likewise, if you are under age 66, a Free Travel Card will issue on being awarded an Invalidity Pension, Blind Person's Pension, Disability Allowance, or a Carer's Allowance.
In all other circumstances, you must apply for a Free Travel Card by completing an application form for the Free Travel Scheme (FT1) which is available to download at: www.gov.ie/freetravel. It’s also available from your local Post Office or nearest Department of Social Protection Intreo Centre. The completed form, along with any supporting documentation required, should be forwarded to the Free Travel Section.
If you are not registered for the Public Services Card, you will be issued with a letter requesting you to make an appointment to register. If you do not register for the Public Services Card, you cannot avail of the Free Travel Scheme.
Where you are married, in a Civil Partnership or co-habiting, you may be entitled to a Free Travel Card that will allow your spouse civil partner or cohabitant to accompany you free of charge when travelling. (Note: This does not apply to persons under age 66 who are medically certified as unfit to drive, or in receipt of Carer's Allowance or who are nominated carers for people getting a Constant Attendance Allowance or Prescribed Relatives Allowance from this department).
If you qualify for Free Travel and are medically unfit to travel alone, you may be entitled to a Companion Free Travel Card. This type of card allows any one person, aged 16 years or over (not necessarily your spouse civil partner or cohabitant), to accompany you free of charge, when travelling. The conditions for receipt of a Companion Free Travel Card are set out in Appendix 1 of this Guide.
A Free Travel Card may be used to travel free of charge on the following transport services at any time on scheduled services:
Free Travel is not available:
Please check with the individual operator for availability of Integrated Ticketing Systems (ITS).
1. If travelling on your own, touch your card against the Validator on the right-hand side as you enter the bus until you hear the beep and see the green light flash.
2. If you have a companion or spouse with you, place your card on the reader by the driver, and request a ticket for that person: who should have the ticket ready for inspection at all stages of the journey
1. When travelling on your own and you are travelling on Intercity from stations with electronic or automatic gates, tag on with your Free Travel Card to open the gates. At all other Intercity stations, you will need to visit the ticket desk and request a ticket to travel. If the station is unmanned, you may board the train providing you have your Free Travel Card in your possession.
2. If you have a companion or spouse with you, you will need to visit the ticket desk and request a ticket for that person, who should have the ticket ready for inspection at all stages of the journey. If the station is unmanned, you may board the train providing you have your Free Travel Card in your possession.
Touch your card against the Validator on the platform before and after your trip. Remove the card when you hear a beep or see the green light.
1. If travelling on your own, place your card on the card reader either at the bus entrance or by the driver. Remove the card when you hear a beep
2. If you have a companion or spouse with you, tell the driver who will issue them with a ticket.
Do not hesitate to ask a driver or any member of staff who will be able to assist you.
If travelling by Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann including Bus Éireann Expressway or on private bus operator services, you must produce your Free Travel Paper Pass to the bus driver on boarding the bus. A bus ticket is not issued, nor required.
Before using Irish Rail services, you must present your Free Travel Paper Pass at the ticket booking desk in the train station of departure, to obtain a free rail ticket. If undertaking a day return journey only, you will be issued with a Day Return ticket.
In all other cases, a Single journey ticket will be issued, and a further Single journey ticket must be obtained before making the return journey.
When using Private Ferry services, you should present your Free Travel Paper Pass to the Ferry Operator. In some instances, a ticket will be issued.
If you have a Free Travel Card, you do not need to provide extra proof of identity.
However, if you have a Companion or Spouse Free Travel Card and your companion or spouse, civil partner or co-habitant travelling with you, they may be asked to provide proof of identity.
Whenever you are travelling using your free travel entitlement, you must produce your Free Travel Paper Pass for inspection to an Inspector of the Transport Operator or to an Official of the Department of Social Protection, if asked. If considered necessary, you and your accompanying spouse, civil partner or cohabitant must also produce evidence of your identity by providing a sample of signature or photographic ID to the officials mentioned above. These officials have the authority to confiscate a Free Travel Paper Pass if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the pass is being misused.
In addition, if you live in Dublin, Cork city, Waterford city, Limerick city or Galway city you must also produce a Free Travel Photo ID if you have a Free Travel Paper Pass.
You may also be required to provide proof of identification irrespective of where you reside or photographic identification. This may be a condition of travel as outlined by the travel operator in question, but notification of this should be advertised by the operator either on their bus or by way of their website so that all intending passengers are fully aware of all documentation necessary to travel.
If your Free Travel Card is lost, stolen or damaged the card holder should contact 0818 837 000 to request a replacement
The department no longer issues Free Travel Paper Passes. If your Free Travel Paper Pass is lost, stolen or damaged, you should contact your nearest Department of Social Protection Intreo Centre to arrange an appointment to register for the Public Services Card. When you have registered, you will be issued with a Public Services Card which identifies that you have an entitlement to Free Travel.
In the event of any of the following occurring, the Free Travel Card or Paper Pass must be returned to the address given below:
The Free Travel Card or Paper Pass is very valuable, is for your personal use only and is not transferable for use by any other person. It remains the property of the Minister for Social Protection. The misuse of the Free Travel Card or Paper Pass is a fraudulent offence. You may be prosecuted under relevant bye-laws applicable to the transport company. Fraudulent use includes giving the Free Travel Card or Paper Pass to another person or reproducing the Free Travel Card or Paper Pass. The department takes any claim of misuse of a Free Travel Card or Paper Pass very seriously and where it is found that you are fraudulently using the Free Travel Card or Paper Pass or have given your Free Travel Card or Paper Pass to another person to use fraudulently, your entitlement to Free Travel will be reviewed.
The following is a list of events that may affect your entitlement to Free Travel and if any of these events occur or your circumstances change, you must notify the department immediately:
The Free Travel Card or Paper Pass should be returned to the Department of Social Protection on the death of the holder.
Free Travel will be awarded to you automatically if you are age 66 years and over, legally resident and living permanently in the State and in receipt of a pension from this department. To avail of the Free Travel entitlement, you must register for a Public Services Card. When registered, a Public Services Card which identifies entitlement to Free Travel will be issued.
Likewise, if you are under 66 years of age and in receipt of an Invalidity Pension, Blind Pension, Disability Allowance or Carer’s Allowance, Free Travel will be awarded to you automatically. To avail of the Free Travel entitlement, you must register for a Public Services Card. When registered, a Public Services Card which identifies entitlement to Free Travel will be issued.
In all other circumstances you must apply for the Free Travel Scheme by completing the appropriate application form for the Free Travel Scheme which is available to download at: www.gov.ie/freetravel. Application forms are also available from your local Post Office or your nearest Department of Social Protection Intreo Centre. The completed form along with any supporting documentation required should be forwarded to the Free Travel Section.
Please Note:
Before completing the appropriate application form you should visit www.gov.ie/freetravel for details of the qualifying conditions for the Free Travel Scheme.
You should ensure that the following has been done before submitting your application form:
If you are aged 66 years or over, Free Travel entitlement continues as long as you are permanently residing in the State.
a. If you are under 66 years of age, Free Travel entitlement continues as long as you are legally and permanently resident in the State and continue to receive one of the qualifying payments for Free Travel'
or
b. continue to be certified by your doctor as unfit to drive for a period of at least 12 months.
If you transfer to another payment from the Department of Social Protection, or participate in certain types of community work projects:
If you are in receipt of Free Travel and receiving Disability Allowance or Blind Person's Pension and you transfer to a Back-to-Work Enterprise Allowance scheme, you may retain your entitlement to Free Travel for the duration of the BTWA payment.
If you are in receipt of Free Travel and participate in a Community Employment project, an Employee Support Scheme, or a Pilot Project for People with Disabilities, you may retain your entitlement to Free Travel for the duration of the project.
If you are in receipt of Invalidity Pension, Disability Allowance or Blind Pension, you may retain your entitlement to Free Travel on transfer to another primary long-term Department of Social Protection payment (excluding Jobseeker's Benefit or Allowance, Illness Benefit and Pre-Retirement Allowance, One-Parent Family Payment and Carer's Benefit or as a Qualified Adult on your spouse civil partner or co-habitant’s payment).
If you transfer from any primary payment (and had an entitlement to Free Travel) to receive an Increase for Qualified Adult (IQA) on your spouse’s, civil partner’s, or cohabitant’s DSP payment, you will lose your entitlement to Free Travel.
The representative(s) of the deceased should return the Free Travel Card or Paper Pass to the Free Travel Section.
As the Free Travel Scheme is a non-statutory scheme, there is no legislative right of appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. However, if you are dissatisfied with a decision in relation to your application for Free Travel you are entitled to a review by another and more senior official of the department.
In order to have a decision reviewed you should write to the Free Travel Section stating in detail why you think the decision is incorrect. The case will be considered fully and fairly, and you will be notified in writing of the outcome, at an early date.
A Companion Free Travel Card entitles you to have any one person, aged 16 years or over, to accompany you free of charge when travelling. Entitlement to the Companion Free Travel Card may be subject to periodic review.
The following people are eligible to receive a Companion Free Travel Card:
- are getting a Blind Pension or
- satisfy the blindness condition for the Blind Pension or
- are registered as a blind person with either the Vision Ireland or the National League of the Blind of Ireland.
- Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partners Contributory or Non-Contributory Pension
- Widow’s, Widower’s, or Surviving Civil Partners Pension under the Occupational Injuries Benefits Scheme
- One-Parent Family Payment
- Widow’s, Widower’s, or Surviving Civil Partners Pension under the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme
- An equivalent Social Security Pension or Benefit from a country covered by EU Regulations, or from a country with which Ireland has a Bilateral social Security Agreement
- an ORDINARY Garda Widow’s Pension from the Department of Justice
A visually impaired child will qualify for a Free Travel Companion Card if they are under age 18 and either they:
If you have a Free Travel entitlement and are residing on a permanent basis on any of the Aran Islands (i.e., Inis Mór, Inis Meáin, Inis Oírr), you are entitled to travel free of charge on Aer Arann services from the islands to Galway City and vice versa. Aer Arann operates an airline service between the Aran Islands and Aerphort Chonamara at Indreabhan, Co. Galway. The company also provides a shuttle bus service between Aerphort Chonamara and Galway City.
You may undertake up to 12 single journeys (or up to 6 return journeys) between the Aran Islands and Galway City each year. Any number of additional journeys may also be made at a special reduced rate. Where the appropriate type of Free Travel card is held, your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant may accompany you free of charge on these trips. If you hold a Companion Free Travel Card, any one person, aged 16 years or over, may accompany you free of charge.
If you are not permanently residing on the Aran Islands you may travel on Aer Arann's airline and bus services between Galway City and the Aran Islands at a reduced cost. Your spouse, partner or a companion may accompany you at the reduced rate, where the appropriate type of entitlement is held. (This concession also applies to Northern Ireland Travel Card holders undertaking cross-border journeys to and from the Aran Islands (but not to their spouse or companion, unless they are a Card holder in their own right - See Appendix 3, first paragraph).
If you have a Free Travel entitlement and are residing on a permanent basis on Tory Island, Co. Donegal, you are entitled to travel free of charge on the helicopter service, which is operated during the Winter period only, between the island and Falcarragh on the mainland. You may undertake up to 8 single (or up to 4 return) journeys each year. Your spouse, civil partner, cohabitant, or companion may accompany you free of charge, where the appropriate type of Free Travel entitlement is held.
A Free Travel Card or Paper Pass may be used to travel free of charge on cross-border journeys between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and vice versa. Your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant may accompany you free of charge where the appropriate type of entitlement is held. Alternatively, if you hold a Companion Free Travel Card or Paper Pass, any one companion aged 16 years or over may accompany you free of charge.
If you are a resident of Northern Ireland who holds a Northern Ireland Concessionary Travel Card, you may also travel free on cross-border journeys. However, your spouse civil partner or companion is not entitled to Free Travel on such journeys unless they also hold a Concession Travel Card in their own right.
A Cross-Border Free Travel journey must originate in one jurisdiction and terminate in the other jurisdiction.
The Cross-Border journey may be undertaken using one mode of transport only i.e., bus or train. It is not possible to use a combination of both modes of transport.
The journey must be undertaken on the basis of one through-ticket. This means, for example, that you can travel free by train from say, Cork to Belfast, provided that the free ticket which you obtained in the Cork railway station clearly denotes Belfast as the final destination. The same principle applies when travelling by bus on Cross-Border journeys.
The following Transport Operators provide Cross-Border Free Travel services for both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland Free Travel recipients:
When travelling by bus, your Free Travel Card or Paper Pass should be presented to the bus driver, on boarding the bus, before departure.
On Bus Éireann and Ulsterbus services, the bus driver will issue you with a single journey ticket. This ticket is valid on the date of issue only. If you wish to undertake a return cross-border bus journey, you should get a single journey ticket for the outward part of the journey, and later, a further single journey ticket for the homeward journey.
If travelling with any of the other bus operators mentioned in above, you will be issued with either a single or a return journey ticket as required.
To undertake a cross-border journey by train you should present your Free Travel Card or Paper Pass at the ticket desk in the train station of departure. You will then be issued with either a free single or a free return Standard Class ticket as required.
The Free Travel entitlement is Standard Class travel. If you wish to travel "First Plus" class, you may do so on payment of the appropriate fare supplement.
It is not necessary to complete a Cross-Border Free Travel train journey in one day. For example, if travelling from Cork to Belfast, you may spend up to 2 nights in Dublin as part of your journey. However, the outward part of the journey must be fully completed within 3 days of the date of issue of the ticket.
If, as part of a Cross-Border Free Travel rail journey, you have to transfer between Connolly and Heuston stations in Dublin, you may travel free of charge on the LUAS red line.
No monetary refunds or discounts will be given for late train departures, or for any other delays experienced while undertaking a Cross-Border Free Travel journey.
Since April 2007, the All Ireland Free Travel Scheme allows you to travel for free on the various travel services operating within Northern Ireland.
Similarly Northern Ireland Senior SmartPass holders are entitled to travel for free on services within the Republic of Ireland using their existing Senior SmartPass.
An application form for Senior SmartPass (FTNI1); available from Department of Social Protection Intreo Centres, or Citizens Information Centres, must be completed. As these forms are individually bar coded, photocopies cannot be used. The completed application form must be brought in person to your nearest Department of Social Protection Intreo Centre (See note below) along with:
Your application will be forwarded to the authorities in Northern Ireland who will send you your Senior SmartPass card, together with instructions for use, by post direct to your home address. It may take up to six weeks to process your application.
A Senior SmartPass card will expire after 5 years. If you used the Senior SmartPass card within the last 2 years, a new card automatically issues in the post from Translink when the card expires.
If you have not used the Senior SmartPass card in the last 2 years, you will be sent a renewal application form from Translink.
If you have never used the Senior SmartPass card, you will not hear from Translink at all. You must contact Translink by email at: smartpass@translink.co.uk or by phone on: 0044 2890759129. Translink will then send you a renewal application.
Note:
You can find the name and address of your local Department of Social Protection Intreo Centre at www.gov.ie/intreocentres