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

Toll roads and the toll bridges over the River Liffey operate as virtual monopolies. As councils impose restrictions on access to alternative routes or to roads adjacent to toll roads, it is more likely that the individual driver will be diverted, by design, to the toll road. The price increases do not appear substantial but they soon mount up as drivers make multiple trips over the course of a week, month or year. Price increases are happening across the board with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Drivers are struggling to pay for fuel and these increases will hit already hard-hit motorists. For M50 tolls, the cost is due to increase by between 20 cent and 30 cent, depending on what method of payment you use. Those who have a tag on their cars will see the toll costs rise from €2.10 to €2.30. The cost of a toll on unregistered cars will increase by 30 cent, from €3.20 to €3.50, and the tolls for goods vehicles using the M50 will see a price rise of 20 cent or 60 cent per journey, depending on the size of the vehicle and the method of payment.

I would also like the Minister of State to look at the penalties that are imposed on drivers who, for whatever reason, miss a payment on a toll. These penalties rapidly escalate to exorbitant amounts being owed to the toll companies. The eight toll roads operated by PPP companies will see toll costs increase to the maximum level. For example, the cost of a toll for a car using the M4 motorway will increase from €3 to €3.20. The other seven toll roads will see a price increase of 10 cent more. People need their cars to get to work and in Dublin people definitely need them to get to industrial estates in the north and south of the city. Public transport will simply not work if you are travelling from the north side to an industrial complex on the south side and anyone who lives in Dublin knows this. People are dependent on their cars to get to work, therefore, and their pay packets decrease with every price increase. This toll increase in unnecessary and impractical; it is detrimental to the economic good of the city.

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