Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department and I keep in regular and ongoing contact with the various transport agencies on matters relevant to general transport policy.

Transport 21 is the Government's multi-billion euro integrated investment programme, which provides for investment in our national roads and public transport network. The objectives of the programme include improved accessibility, sustainability, capacity, safety and integration.

A large part of the programme has already been delivered, including over recent months the extension of the LUAS line to Cherrywood, the new Dunboyne rail service to Dublin, and the completion last month of the final section of the inter-urban motorway network.

The inter-urban network has greatly enhanced the journey times and connectivity between Dublin and the provincial cities, and has enhanced the safety of road users generally. In addition, the integrated vision for a sustainable transport future for Ireland by 2020 was set out in the Government's smarter travel policy document. Progress reports on the implementation of smarter travel can be accessed from my Department's website.

In December 2009, I established the National Transport Authority which provided the integrated institutional framework to underpin the development of all public transport road and rail services. The authority has been given responsibility for the development of an integrated transport system within the greater Dublin area. The principal functions include: strategic planning of transport; development of an integrated, accessible public transport network; promoting cycling and walking; provision of public transport infrastructure generally, including light rail, metro and heavy rail; and effective management of traffic and transport demand.

I understand from the authority that work is well under way in preparing a new transport strategy for the greater Dublin area for the period to 2030.

At national level, the NTA has responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger land transport services. That includes the provision of subvented bus and rail services by Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus and Irish Rail. The authority also has responsibility for the provision of integrated transport schemes in the regional cities and the contiguous areas surrounding these cities.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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It is a fairly long question and it was quite a long answer. It was not a question put down by me. I want to ask a number of supplementary questions which the Minister might be good enough to answer. First, regarding integrated ticketing, which is relevant to the question, many people have been frustrated and bemused by how long it has taken to put in place the IT, software and hardware necessary to allow for integrated ticketing whereby people can move from bus to train to tram on the basis of the one ticket. I ask the Minister to outline for the record the time-line in terms of seeing integrated ticketing in Dublin and surrounding areas, which is the first phase, but also for people travelling to Dublin and to other parts of the country, to ensure that somebody who gets a bus to the train in Cork, gets the train to Dublin and then the Luas into the city centre can buy one ticket and get the flexibility and the value for money that brings.

Second, regarding the success of the dublinbikes project, one of the successes of the Minister has been to promote cycling, not just in Dublin but also in other parts of the country. Does the Minister's Department intend to replicate the success of the dublinbikes programme to other cities such as Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Galway and so on, and particularly to cities that are tourism destinations where there is a good deal of evidence to suggest that an extension of that programme would work well?

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has asked me a specific question on integrated ticketing. I will not give him a response off the top of my head in case it is incorrect other than to say that during the course of this year, starting in the first quarter of the year, the integrated ticketing project will continue to roll out. The Deputy is probably aware that a number of the transport companies have already introduced the smart cards. Over the coming months those cards will be integrated to ensure they can be used in the manner the Deputy outlined, namely, that one will be able to go from one service to another without having to purchase tickets.

In general terms, by the end of this year most of the public transport companies in the greater Dublin area will have integrated ticketing in place. Its roll-out has been slow, and I share the Deputy's frustration in that regard. Since the integrated ticketing board was put in place in 2005 it has worked very well but the question of the back-up, the IT systems and so on has been much slower than I would have anticipated. I have discussions regularly with the chairman on that but he makes the not unreasonable point that he wants the system to work when it starts. Nobody will thank him or me if we have a big bang on the day the system is launched and it does not work. Perhaps the board is being a little more cautious.

I thank the Deputy for the points he made on cycling. The cycling policy is a national one. Some areas of the country such as Mayo and Cork have responded very well in the first few years of the programme. We hope to roll out the programme to all the other provincial cities, in addition to a smarter travel service in those cities also. There are studies that must be completed in that regard.