Free Travel Pass

– *All information from CitizensInformation.ie

Free Travel Pass

Everyone aged 66 and over living permanently in the State is entitled to the Free Travel Scheme. Some people under 66 also qualify. If you qualify for free travel, you are issued with a card that you must carry with you when using public transport. In some cases, a Free Travel Companion Card is available which allows a person to travel with the holder (if they are unable to travel alone). Free Travel Cards are non-transferable and can only be used by the named person.

Free travel is available on all State public transport (bus, rail and Dublin’s LUAS service) with some exceptions.

Free travel is also available on a limited number of services operated by private bus transport companies. Private bus transport operators that have opted in to the Free Travel Scheme accept free travel cards. You should contact the Department of Social Protection to check whether your private bus operator accepts free travel cards – see ‘Where to apply’ below.

If you abuse your entitlement to free travel the Department will review your entitlement to a Free Travel Card. For example, abuse could include wrongfully presenting a card for travel or engaging in anti-social behaviour while using the card. When you use your Free Travel Card you must also follow the rules that apply to your mode of transport.

Free Travel and Public Services Card

The Government has introduced a Public Services Card which will allow people to access a range of government services and payments. The Public Services Card will eventually replace the Free Travel Pass. You must register for the Public Services Card when requested to do so by the Department in order to keep your entitlement to Free Travel. Your entitlement to Free Travel will be disallowed or withdrawn if you don’t register.

If you are entitled to free travel, when you are issued with your new Public Services Card it will also be your Free Travel Card. The card will have F-T printed in a yellow octagon in the top-left-hand corner of the card. You can see a sample card on welfare.ie (pdf).

You must show your Public Services Card to the travel operator when you are travelling on public transport. (In some cases you may be asked to scan your Public Services Card however not all transport operators have this facility.) When you receive your new Public Services Card, you must return your old free travel pass to the Department of Social Protection (see ‘Where to apply’ below).

There are 3 categories of free travel:

• If FT-P is written on your Public Services Card, you personally are entitled to free travel.
• If FT+S is written on your Public Services Card, your spouse, partner or cohabitant can join you for free when you are travelling (they cannot travel for free alone). Your spouse, partner or cohabitant’s name will not be on the card.
• If FT+C is written on your Public Services Card a companion (over 16) can travel with you for free (because you are unable to travel alone for medical reasons).

Read FAQs on the Public Services Card and free travel (pdf). Note that the Department of Social Protection is no longer issuing paper passes.

You can also read ‘How to use your public services card for free travel’ (pdf).

Spouses, civil partners, cohabitants and companions

If you are entitled to free travel and you are married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting, you are entitled to a Free Travel Card which allows your partner to accompany you free of charge when travelling. (This does not apply to people under age 66 who are getting Carer’s Allowance or who are nominated carers for people getting Constant Attendance Allowance or Prescribed Relatives Allowance from the Department of Social Protection).

If you are unable to travel alone you may get a Free Travel Companion Card. This allows you to be accompanied by any person over 16 years of age, free of charge. To qualify for a Free Travel Companion Card you must satisfy certain conditions. Entitlement to the Companion Free Travel Card may be subject to periodic review. You can read about these conditions in the Free Travel leaflet (SW40).

Senior SmartPass for travelling in Northern Ireland

The All Ireland Free Travel Scheme allows a Free Travel cardholder (those aged 66 and older) to travel free of charge on all bus and rail services within Northern Ireland using a Senior Smartpass card. Similarly, Northern Ireland Senior Smartpass holders are entitled to travel for free on services in Ireland using their existing Senior Smartpass. If your Free Travel Card allows you to be accompanied by a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant or companion they may continue to travel with you for free on cross-border journeys but they cannot accompany you for free on public transport within Northern Ireland.

Free Travel cardholders wishing to avail of the All Ireland Free Travel scheme within Northern Ireland must first get a Senior SmartPass card. To get a Senior SmartPass card you must fill in an application form (FTNI1). (It is not possible to get this form online, to get a form you must contact your social welfare local office).

The application form must be filled in with black ink only and returned in person (not posted) to your social welfare local office. You must bring the following items with your application form to your social welfare local office:

• Your current Free Travel Pass/Public Services Card and
• Evidence of your address, (for example, a gas, electricity, phone bill or bank statement) and
• Evidence of your identity, (for example, your drivers licence, passport or another form of photo identification) and
• A recent passport standard colour photograph.

It may take up to six weeks to process your application. However you can only apply 3 weeks before your 66th birthday. If you apply more than 3 weeks before your 66th birthday, your application will be rejected. There is further information on the extension of the Free Travel Scheme.

You should continue to use your current Free Travel Card for travel in this State.

Rules to qualify for Free Travel Pass

You may be entitled to free travel if you are permanently living in the State and:

• You are aged 66 or over
• You are getting Disability Allowance, Blind Pension, Carer’s Allowance or an Invalidity Pension from the Department of Social Protection.
• You have been getting Incapacity Supplement or Workmen’s Compensation with Disablement Pension for at least 12 months
• You are blind or visually impaired and meet the medical conditions for Blind Pension
• You are a specified carer for a person getting Constant Attendance Allowance or Prescribed Relatives Allowance from the Department
• You 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
• You are a widow or widower or a surviving civil partner aged 60 or over whose late spouse/civil partner held a free travel pass and who is getting one of the following payments: State Pension (Transition), Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Partner’s (Contributory) Pension, Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Partner’s (Non-Contributory) Pension, One-Parent Family Payment, Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Partner’s Pension under the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme or a similar social security pension/benefit from an EU member state or a country with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement, or an ordinary Garda widow’s pension.
• You have registered for the Public Services Card when requested to do so

– For further details on rules to qualify for the free travel pass, visit Citizens Information today.

How to apply

Related Knowledge Base Posts -

• Fair Deal Scheme in case of Incapacity – Care Representative
• 2017 Senior Citizen Guidebook
• State Pension / Old Age Pension (Contributory)