Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)

I thank the Chair for the opportunity to speak. I might come back in two weeks and talk about the Ballybrophy line which, as Leo Varadkar said in his recent book, I had to save many years ago, and he is telling the truth.

My hobby horse is the Leap Card. I launched this ten years ago, and I think Mr. Creegan was around then, and maybe one or two others. I think what I have here is one of the first cards, if not 0001. It is very worn, as the witnesses can see. In fairness to the NTA, I have asked parliamentary questions about why this even still exists, why it is not on people's phones, in their wallet, like everything else. The reply I have got has basically said it has been looked at and that it is not financially viable. I am from a technology background. I used to be an IT manager. I know Indra Sistemas has been appointed to change all the machines across the network, starting in the greater Dublin area and working out, which is the norm for contactless and all of that. Where in the timeline do we fit in getting rid of this? We do not have to get rid of it, but currently have to fumble for the card when it should be on our phone which we should be able to use. What is the timeline for doing that and why have we not done it? What was so excessive about the costs? Was it the process through the phone companies or what was it? I have asked this question numerous times and am still not fully au fait with why this has not been done yet, because we were so advanced earlier on.