Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)

I will have to check that out for the Deputy and see what plans there are. When we are introducing a new system like this, as has often been seen in the past, if it is not done right, it can cause huge problems and there can be significant anxiety and frustration when the system is not working right. The idea is to introduce a small number of bus, tram and train validators, test them and prove their functionality first. It is important that we do that before committing to large-scale deployment.

I agree with the Deputy that we were slow to get to this. Owing to what happened in the economy in 2007 and 2008, this was put on the back burner because it was not deemed to be essential. Nowadays, with the demand for public transport and people wanting to use it, we have to provide this technology to make sure that people get tickets and get onto trains, buses and trams with ease.

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