Following the welcome news that changes to the Free Travel scheme will be made as part of Budget 24 - following a long-fought campaign by Epilepsy Ireland - the changes were welcomed by several Senators during the order of business yesterday.
You can watch the contributions and comments of Senators Martin Conway, Erin McGreehan, and Lisa Chambers in the video below:
We would like to once again thank all TDs and Senators who have raised this issue over the many of years of campaigning on the behalf of Epilepsy Ireland and constituents with epilepsy who have been impacted.
Following the announcement, we have also written to Minister Humphreys, thanking her for being the Minister to finally deliver on this much needed change and noting how we look forward to working with her on the details and processes which will be involved in making this change a reality.
As soon as we have any further details regarding the above, we will share this on our website and social media channels. A Departmental press release on this issue has stated that the changes will be implemented by July 2024. It is our understanding that this is to allow for the passage of the Social Welfare Bill through the Dáil and to then put the resources in place that are required to implement this change to the Free Travel scheme.
To read more about the history of our Free Travel campaign, visit the ‘Advocacy’ section of our website.