James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome everybody from TII and other bodies. It is great to see them here at such short notice. We are here as a consequence of a failure in our logic and thinking in how we adjust fares and changes in toll fees. The consumer price index is there for a reason. There are times of rapid inflation and there are times when people are under huge financial pressure, and the two of them have come together. There is great saying by Albert Reynolds who said it is the little things that get you. There is a sense of that. It is 20 cent for ordinary car users in terms of what is proposed. I welcome that plans are now in place to defer the increase.

Motoring costs have increased enormously in the past 18 months. The cost of car servicing has gone up hugely as a consequence of a huge shortage in parts. There are massive problems with global distribution, which has been driven on by what happened in the Suez Canal and other areas. In addition, the cost of tyres and a number of other things that cost motorists dearly have dramatically increased. To fill a car with a 60 l tank with diesel used to cost from €75 to €80 but now is about €130. Ordinary motorists are put to the pin of their collar and that is why there has been such a reaction. I know that people, perhaps in positions in the TII, might question why the reaction to increased toll charges was as bad as it was, and I have outlined why, and the increase was on top of other household pressures. I welcome that the increase has been deferred.

I wish to ask a couple of questions to develop an understanding. Does TII derive any income as an organisation from tolls or are all of them farmed out to the PPP operators for the national road network?