Public Transport (Disabled People) (Hansard, 20 July 2004)

§ Mr. Spellar

Free travel on scheduled public transport is available to people who are registered blind and to people in receipt of a War Disablement Pension who have been assessed as being more than 20 per cent. disabled. During the financial year 2004–05 it is estimated that the cost of providing such concessions will amount to £320,000.

In addition, free travel is available to all Northern Ireland residents aged over 65 years of age, 57 per cent. of whom consider themselves to have a limiting longterm illness. During the financial year 2004–05, I estimate that the cost of providing free travel to that proportion of older people will be around £7.8 million.

Since 1 April 2004, half fare concessions have been available under the Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme to people who: are in receipt of either mobility component of Disability Living Allowance; have had a driving licence refused or revoked for medical reasons; are registered with a Health and Social Services Trust as being partially sighted; are known to a Health and Social Services Trust as having a learning disability.

The Department for Regional Development has estimated that the operating costs for these four groups of people for the financial year 2004–05 will be £205,000, at current fare levels. The estimated cost of changing the Concessionary Fares Scheme to provide free-fare travel, rather than half fare concessions, to these groups would be likely to cost around £500,000 per annum in addition to set-up costs.

I therefore estimate that the cost of providing free travel on scheduled public transport to people with disabilities would be in the region of £8.62 million in the current financial year. However, there are currently no plans to further extend the Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme to provide free public transport for the four groups of people who have received half fare concessions since April 2004.