Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I am glad to hear he has no plans to put further tolls on the M50, which is undoubtedly the busiest road in the country. All the main carriageways from north, south, east and west converge on the M50. We were opposed to the tolling of the M50 from the outset. We saw what happened when the contract was drawn up with the company that was previously responsible for the tolling of the M50. A previous Government rectified the matter by taking on that responsibility. As a result, we now have the freeflow system, which is not perfect but is certainly a huge improvement. It seems that the M50 as a whole is managing pretty well, although problems have been identified during peak hours. Our plans need to be concentrated on what we can do in those peak hours. A price increase would definitely lead to rat-running in housing estates, residential areas and built-up areas, which would be a disaster. Does the Minister accept that more investment in public transport and integrated travel is needed? We have some integrated travel, involving the bus and rail networks, but what about the integration of bicycles etc.? In the long run, such measures will help to relieve congestion.

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