Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

The introduction of some level of integrated ticketing would be welcome. The notion of this idea dates back to the putting in place of the Dublin transportation initiative which was drawn up to make an application for European funding because Dublin city had become uncompetitive due to congestion. We would laugh if we compared the level of congestion at the time the initiative was put in place to the current level. The manner in which it is proposed to introduce the system seems piecemeal. That flies in the face of what integrated ticketing means. The system should be integrated from the day it is introduced. There is an element of paralysis in introducing integrated ticketing in that what is at issue is more to do with who runs the services rather than the arrangements at the other end, which should be the issue in a fully integrated ticketing system.

The report on an integrated ticketing system was received by the then Minister for Transport, the former Deputy O'Rourke, in 1999. We have now heard that there will a phased roll-out of the system. While I welcome the fact that there will be some level of ticketing integration, and we are moving towards a fully integrated ticketing system, I am disappointed the full system will not be introduced in a shorter timeframe and that the system will not be fully integrated from the day it is introduced.

From the point of view of the amount of money that was spent on the transport system——

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