Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for giving me the opportunity to raise this issue on the adjournment. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Pat The Cope Gallagher for standing in for the Minister. I am seeking to find out where we stand on the delivery of integrated ticketing for public transport in Dublin and across the country.

This proposal has a long history, spanning 15 years and I am not aware of the timetable for its delivery. I believe the Dublin Transport Authority made proposals in the early 1990's and then handed the baton to the Rail Procurement Agency in 2005. I understand the Rail Procurement Agency initiated a procurement process which was ultimately inconclusive and ended sometime in 2006.

The benefits of integrated ticketing for public transport are very clear both to the providers and the people who use public transport. The idea is simple and means that one can go on a journey where one can go from the train to Luas and or to the bus with a single ticket. The reason that is important for those who use public transport is that it makes it easier to take journeys involving different forms of public transport and it would encourage people to use different forms of public transport on the same journey. This would be very important because what makes public transport successful is the number of people who use it. The more people use public transport, the more revenue will be generated, which enables further investment and public transport to flourish. When integrated ticketing is not available, the providers of public transport lose out on a significant opportunity to attract more people to use the forms of transport available. For those who want to use public transport for many different journeys, the process is complicated and as a result people decide not to use it. I recently made a journey from the northside to the southside of Dublin, where I had to use the bus, and then the DART. I had to purchase two tickets at two different stages. Obviously, the provision of a single ticket for the entire journey would make it cheaper and simpler and thus encourage more people to use it.

An announcement has just been made about the provision on an interconnector under Transport 21. What an interconnector will do is allow the different forms of public transport to link up between the heavy rail system and the Luas. The thinking behind it is so clear that if we allow these forms of public transport to link up, more people will use it. That capital project will run into billions but for a fraction of that amount, which could be measured in the single tens of millions, we would make it more attractive and simpler for the public to use the different forms of transport that are available. Given the significant environment benefit of greater use of public transport, and ensuring that capital infrastructure is better used and the money is spent more efficiently, this seems to be the most obvious thing to do in the Dublin region. I am disappointed that integrated ticketing for public transport is not available and I would appreciate if the Minister would give us up-to-date information on what will happen next.