Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 66: To ask the Minister for Transport the position regarding the integrated ticketing project following the recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General; the timescale and budget this project is working to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24270/07]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 109: To ask the Minister for Transport when it is envisaged that integrated ticketing will be available. [24365/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 66 and 109 together.

The Chairman of the Integrated Ticketing Project Board has informed me, in a recent report, that he is pleased to be able to report good progress with the project progressing in accordance with the agreed programme. The Integrated Ticketing Project Board has agreed a programme for the delivery of an integrated ticketing system in the Dublin area within a capital budget of €49.6 million. This involves the integrated ticketing system being launched initially on the scheduled services of Dublin Bus, LUAS and Morton's Coaches, a private bus operator, by end August 2009.

Irish Rail DART and commuter rail services will be included within a further 12 months, and Bus Éireann will implement a pilot scheme on one of its commuter routes in the Greater Dublin Area. It is also envisaged the other private bus operators will join the integrated ticketing system over this timeframe. In the meantime a number of magnetic strip integrated tickets which allow transfer between Bus and DART/commuter rail, Bus and LUAS, and LUAS and DART/commuter rail are currently in place.