Irish Rail says it is developing ways to clamp down on abuse of the free travel pass system. It follows reports that 20 passes a day are confiscated from people who are not entitled to one.

The Irish Daily Mail says there is no proper audit system to cover the scheme and that the last cost-analysis was done 40 years ago.

The scheme is open to anyone aged over 66 who lives permanently in Ireland. It costs €76 million each year. CIE gets €61 million of that while the rest goes to Luas and private firms.

Over 1,000 fines issued in 2012

The paper says that along with the 20 a day which are confiscated there were 1,100 fines issued last year.

745,000 people benefit from the free travel scheme and this number jumps to 1.1 million when companion passes are included. These are passes that allow people to travel with a family member, spouse or recognised partner.

Irish Rail spokesperson is Barry Kenny. He admits there is a problem but that a new smartcard would help to combat fraud.