Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister and welcome the clarification but I question the need to continue. While I understand the original rationale behind using tolling to pay for roads, we no longer need the money. Last year we had a surplus of €1.8 billion as a result of a more favourable budget outcome than expected. The Stability and Growth Pact restrictions have been removed so there is no reason to continue tolling except, perhaps, as the Minister said, to benefit from private sector expertise. Can that not be achieved through design, construction and operation without also asking that the private sector finance roads? On the M50, whatever about the obscene profits made by the private sector, my real objection is the loss of control of the road and the traffic management as a result of giving a ransom strip to a private company.

The Minister said one of the requirements is that toll roads would be spread equitably throughout the country. Clearly that is not the case. The Galway road will have two tolls, and drivers on this route might also face tolls at the M50 and the East Link. I am not sure it meets any of the criteria originally envisaged as a reason for tolling. Would the Minister agree that the diversion rates on roads outside Dublin are high? The diversion rate on the newly opened Kinnegad bypass is still growing. Has there been any calculation of an acceptable diversion rate? The level of traffic that can be generated outside the populous Dublin area is such that it requires a high toll to give a return to the private sector and the higher the toll, the greater the diversion rate. Are we trying to milk it for all it is worth by persisting with tolling when we have the money and could maintain control while benefitting from private sector expertise by using another model?

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