Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

According to The Irish Times, "The new system, which will be implemented by the National Roads Authority (NRA), will mean that the entire road will be tolled, with toll charges based on the amount of the route used".

Is the Taoiseach saying that the two journalists involved made up the story? Is he saying that it came out of nowhere and denying the veracity of the articles? I wish to quote back the sentence written by the Civil Service in the Taoiseach's note from yesterday, as distinct from his own remarks. The civil servant English reads as follows: "The NRA will invite tenders for the design, building and operation of a multi-point, free flow, barrier-free toll regime on the M50". Amid all the Taoiseach's denials of the Minister, Deputy Cullen — I can understand why the Taoiseach would want to distance himself from the Minister — he planted that sentence from the Civil Service. What does that mean? What does a multi-point, free flow, barrier-free toll regime on the M50 mean if it does not mean what the Minister's briefing staff said it meant, namely that the Government proposes to implement a number of different toll points on the M50? What will the NRA be inviting tenders for, if the Government does not propose to do that? Is it inviting tenders for the amusement of finding out how much it will cost, like so many other projects about which we know? What does the sentence, "The NRA will invite tenders for the design, building and operation of a multi-point, free flow, barrier-free toll regime on the M50" actually mean?

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