Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 7 February 2013
Public Accounts Committee
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 32 - Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments Under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 26 - Collection of Motor Taxation
Financial Statements 2011 - National Roads Authority
12:30 pm
Mr. Fred Barry:
Certainly the traffic volumes are such that the cost of collecting tolls would be disproportionately high. Toll collection is not the most cost effective way of raising revenue. It works well in terms of the user pays principle but there are connected expenses with it. If one starts imposing tolls on a lightly travelled road, a disproportionate amount of the money collected will go into administrative costs.