Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The national roads improvement programme, in line with the national development plan and, more recently, Transport 21, provides for the procurement and construction of a number of major national road projects as toll public-private partnership projects. The current position is that three projects — the second West Link bridge, the Dundalk western bypass and the Kilcock-Kinnegad section of the N4 — have been completed. Work is under way on the Fermoy bypass and work is due to start on the Waterford city bypass and phase two of the Limerick southern ring road this year.

A number of other toll PPP projects — the N6 Galway-Ballinasloe, the N7-N8 Portlaoise-Cullahill and the M50 PPP upgrade — are at earlier stages of procurement, but I understand the National Roads Authority expects these schemes to be in construction by early 2007. The Clonee-Kells section of the N3 is before the courts and the timeline for commencing that scheme will depend on the outcome of the hearing. In addition, the Dublin Port tunnel will open this year.

Toll charges are being applied to the tunnel for traffic management purposes. The NRA estimates that private sector investment in the toll PPP projects completed to date amounts to approximately €500 million. Private sector investment in toll PPPs over the period to 2010 is estimated to be approximately €2 billion.

The projects to be undertaken as toll PPPs have been selected by the NRA having regard to a number of principles. One of these key principles is that toll roads should be spread across the main national routes to create an equitable distribution of user charging on the newly constructed network along with the benefits of the accelerated delivery of the new roads. Another fundamental underlying principle of the NRA PPP programme is that an alternative toll-free route be available for road users.

Toll PPPs are only undertaken following rigorous assessment in line with Department of Finance requirements and guidelines relating to PPPs and capital appraisal and when it is determined that the toll PPP approach offers value for money. The toll programme is making a significant contribution to the accelerated implementation of the national roads upgrade programme. It has also facilitated the more extensive use of private sector expertise in the design, construction and operation of facilities.

While the scope for additional toll road PPPs is limited, the scale and cost of the national roads programme, combined with the demands of the other sectors which limit the capacity to allocate more Exchequer funding, require that all possibilities for generating additional funding to accelerate the implementation of the national roads programme be considered and kept under review. It is a matter for the NRA in the first instance to consider and propose projects to be undertaken as toll PPP projects. In summary, the toll road PPP programme will continue to make a significant contribution to the implementation of the national roads improvement programme.

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