Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. I will start with PPP projects, tolls and specifically one piece of infrastructure mentioned by the Comptroller and Auditor General mentioned in his opening, namely, the M3. It was the biggest, most expensive and most controversial scheme in Europe at the time of its planning and construction. The contract was awarded to the EuroLink consortium.

This is most controversial and it certainly was not helped when we had people going down into human rabbit holes for infrastructure that was going to be 2.5 km away from the current old road, even further away from the Hill of Tara. National journalists, such as Pat Kenny, were coming down and broadcasting live shows from the Mound of the Hostages, giving people the impression that the road 2.5 km away from the current road was somehow going to go through the Hill of Tara. I wonder whether any of these people had ever been to Meath before or have been since. They are very welcome to come down now to enjoy the ancient east.

I will get back to this road. It is 47 km in length from Kells, north of Carnaross, in my constituency, to Clonee and up to Blanchardstown. It is tolled twice - the only scheme that is tolled twice. When was the first time that fees were paid? This road was opened in the summer of 2010. When was the first time fees were paid to the concessionary company for failure to meet traffic targets? How much has been paid in total since then?