Mr. Fred Barry:

I am not disagreeing with the Senator. However, we cannot built roads and barriers to contain those who drive in a mad way. It just cannot be done.

Senator Eamonn Coghlan referred to the €93 million relating to PPPs. To date, PPP companies have invested a little over €2.1 billion in the road system. This is being repaid to them. As the Senator will be aware, nothing is free. They obtain some of this money through the tolls they are allowed to impose - although not all of the PPP roads are tolled - and they also receive fixed payments from ourselves. These are either fixed subject to inflation or in some cases we are sharing the risk on traffic.