Nearly 500 free travel passes were confiscated after they were found being used by somebody other than the person named on the card.
Department of Social Protection records show that 857 passes were seized and returned to the department over an 18-month period.
Of those, 474 were taken because the pass was being used by the wrong person, while 377 were recorded as “blocked.”
Five more were confiscated because the holder was no longer entitled to free travel, while one was listed as damaged.
The records covered passes that were returned to the department between January 2025 and June of this year.
Bus Éireann services accounted for three quarters of the total, with 642 passes confiscated. A further 125 were sent back by Dublin Bus, along with 80 from Iarnród Éireann and ten from the operators of the Luas tram network.
More than half of the passes were linked to holders with addresses in Cork, accounting for 445 of the 857 total.
Another 134 were registered to addresses in Dublin, while there were 56 from Waterford, 33 from Kerry, and 30 from Carlow.
There was just a single confiscation from people with addresses in each of Monaghan, Roscommon, and Sligo.
The Department of Social Protection said the Free Travel scheme was available to all people aged over 66 and others below that age in receipt of certain qualifying social welfare payments.
A spokesperson said it was also available to people aged 17 to 66 who were medically certified as unfit to drive for at least one year.
They said cards could be blocked when reported as lost, stolen, or damaged and where a new one has already been issued.
The spokesperson said they could also be blocked where a person had lost their entitlement or had left the State.
“Currently, over 1.18 million people qualify for Free Travel, with the total number of beneficiaries increasing to over 2.06 million when spouses and companions are included,” they said.
“Accordingly, the number of free travel cards confiscated and returned to the Department in this 18-month period, represents 0.07% of the total number of those entitled to Free Travel,” they added.
Reporting by Ken Foxe
