Financial assistance for treatment travel

Travel2Care is a limited transportation assistance fund which has been made available by the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) to patients travelling to the eight designated cancer care centres or approved satellite centre and is administered by the Irish Cancer Society. 

The purpose of this nation wide transportation assistance fund is to support people who have a genuine financial difficulty in meeting some of the costs of travelling to current appointments.

Eligibility for Travel2Care

  • Are an Irish citizen or live permanently in Ireland
  • Have a genuine financial need
  • Have to travel over 30km to a designated cancer centre or approved satellite centre
  • Be travelling for assessment, diagnosis, surgery or active treatment at a designated centre or approved satellite centre
  • Be disadvantaged by the centralisation of services to designated cancer centres and not travelling to your local hospital
  • Not qualify for other schemes, such as transport funded by the HSE or voluntary transport initiatives such as Care to Drive

Please note that we cannot provide financial assistance towards retrospective appointments. 

Designated Cancer Care Centres

  • Beaumont Hospital
  • Mater Misericordiae Hospital
  • St. James’s Hospital
  • St. Vincent’s Hospital
  • Cork University Hospital
  • Waterford Regional Hospital
  • Galway University Hospital
  • Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick
  • Letterkenny General Hospital (approved satellite centre)

How to apply for Travel2Care

There are two types of application forms for Travel2Care:

Travel2Care Form A is for investigations and assessments. You can get Travel2Care Form A by:

Once completed, post your application to Travel2Care, Irish Cancer Society, 43-45 Northumberland Rd, Dublin 4.

Travel2Care Form B is for ongoing travel (chemotherapy and radiotherapy only) and is available only from a healthcare professional such as a medical social worker or your cancer nurse. A healthcare professional is not obliged to make an application and must be satisfied that there is a genuine financial need. Please speak to a medical social worker, cancer nurse or other healthcare professional regards assistance for travel for chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Further Information

Please see the Frequently Asked Questions section or contact our Travel2Care team at (01) 231 6643 / (01) 2316619 or travel2care@irishcancer.ie.

*Update September 2012