Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will just use a very short portion of my time. If it is okay I will hand over the remainder of it to my colleague. I have two questions. The first is to Ms Graham. Where is the tender for integrated ticketing? When is there likely to be an award of the contract and when is implementation expected to happen?

This question on the school project is for Mr. Kent. This is concentrating on the Dublin area but it has a general implication. Many routes in certain parts of the country could not be initiated in September because there was a shortage of drivers. This is not meant to be a criticism but what plans are being put in place to address that and to ensure we do not have the same situation next year? There is growth in population and there are certain hotspots in areas where migration and so on have created pressures. There is a dearth of drivers but we now have time to address that. A lot of the burden is on contractors. They are able to get the buses but they are not able to get the drivers. Much of that results from the fact that the school bus system is largely dependent on contractors who by their nature only have short-term work - a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening. It is my view that the service is going to have to be professionalised. Bus Éireann is going to have to take on more of the work itself and it is going to have to employ full-time drivers. Could Mr. Kent please talk to us a little about that?