Shane McEntee (Meath, Fine Gael)

We were promised that an integrated public transport ticketing system would be in place five years ago. The €13 million that was initially spent on the project has been wasted and the budget has increased from €29 million to €42 million. Everyone is proud of Dublin city — it is one of the best cities in Europe in every respect — but it is unacceptable that it is necessary to purchase separate tickets for each mode of public transport. There is an increasing volume of requests for such a system, particularly from young people, given that one can travel to any capital city in Europe and need only purchase one ticket to avail of all public transport services. The lack of an integrated ticketing system is another factor in our traffic congestion.

When will the Minister get all the concerned parties together and tell them what to do? It seems there are disagreements among the three public transport providers and the Minister has not taken control of the situation. Progress will not be made until he does so by setting out what must be done in the interests of Dublin city. When will this project finally be implemented?

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