[article] Mother loses €50k damages case over free travel pass

[Mark Gleeson]

An unemployed mother who verbally abused a train ticket inspector when he asked about her allegedly defaced free travel pass, has lost a €50,000 damages claim for defamation in the Circuit Civil Court.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/mother-loses-50k-damages-case-over-free-travel-pass-30978666.html

[James Howard]

Talk about a brass neck. The picture in the paper has a face that is basically screaming, ah well that was worth a shot. Meanwhile, Irish Rail are down 10 or 20 grand in legal costs and the costs to the state are probably somewhat similar.

As usual for the Indo it is a very poor piece of journalism. It doesn't establish whether or not the ticket collector's statement about the tampering with the travel card had any basis in fact so it is impossible to figure out if the judge was being reasonable in not awarding costs against her.

[Destructix]

To be honest her beef should be with the DSP not Iarnród Éireann. They had asked for the pass to be detained for whatever reason (defacement, temporary suspension of claim etc) not the ticket inspector.

To the people reading this with the paper passes. If they become old and tatty go to your local Garda station with this form http://www.welfare.ie/en/pdf/ft27.pdf get it filled out and send it to

Free Travel Section
Social Welfare Services
College Road
Sligo

If your pass is in such a bad condition that it is unreadable DO NOT WRITE ON IT get it replaced. Also always carry your social services card with you too.

[ACustomer]

The issue of a tatty old paper pass prompts me to ask how long will it be before everyone has one of the new plastic Travel Passes with photo? Are they still afraid of asking someone who lives outside a few large urban areas to go to the trouble of getting a photo? If it's necessary for a driving licence or a passport, why not a travel pass (or a medical card).

We mollycoddle people too much.