There have been various newspaper and radio reports in recent days mentioning that a review of the free travel scheme is underway e.g.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking32.html
It would appear to be an internal departmental review rather than one entailing public consultation (the latter may in fact prove quite worthwhile).
My personal thoughts in brief are that the free travel pass could be requested and then means tested (rather than handed out by default). Many senior citizens choose to drive/are driven (one respects that as their own business). It also ought to be a Smartpass as it is for Translink.
Other broad options could be limiting the pass by geographic area and or a small payment for each journey. I've actually spoken to a senior citizen who wouldn't have an issue with a small per journey payment (and that is because they realise the state of the economy - not because they have money to throw around).
Crucially it needs to be universally recognised that just because someone is a senior citizen doesn’t mean they having the life of Reilly. Due to the austere times we live in the reality is quite different for many senior citizens (through no fault of their own) with a variety of financial commitments to juggle (ranging from supporting children through third level due to various grant cuts to crippling costs of heating oil etc... etc...).