Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

If there are 800,000 additional vehicles and 700,000 more people, a large proportion of them in Dublin, there will inevitably be more traffic.

Deputy Rabbitte asked me what was the position. The issue of four lanes on a gantry was never accepted by the Minister, his Department or the Government. There was one issue, namely that we would move to barrier free tolling. There are no companies in this country who provide barrier free tolling so we have sought them internationally. We have examined the best international standards so we can remove the barriers and adopt modern technology. We have to follow a system of tendering and procurement. I am told it will take well over a year to do this and to put it in place on the M50 will take some further months after that.

The Government and the NRA are committed to improving the level of service provided to motorists on the M50. We feel this will be best achieved through the M50 upgrade and the move to barrier free tolling. A major upgrade programme is under way with a total investment of €1 billion over two years. Phase one has commenced with the upgrade of the sections between the Ballymount and Galway road interchanges, and that is expected to be completed in early 2008. The NRA will submit proposals on barrier free tolling arrangements — toll charges, location and technology — to the Government in due course. Projections and taxation figures will be dealt with by advisors to the NRA, the Department and NTR. The engineers and management of NTR and the managers of the relevant local authorities have told us they believe it will take two years to complete the work.

I am well aware there are difficulties. Deputy Rabbitte will know that my area has had five years of difficulties regarding the completion of the airport road and the Dublin Port tunnel. Motorists have patiently dealt with the disruption. We are spending €1.5 billion on roads, and spent up to €8 billion in recent years. People understand that new bypasses and roads cannot be delivered without disruption——

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