Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I take the point that the direction of travel of everything in the country is going up and it is related to the CPI. However, as inflation is going up in the country, the reality is that some things are pushing it up further than it needs to go and this issue with the toll roads is an example. To link the tolls to inflation does not make sense. I doubt the staff working in the toll companies have got huge pay increases in recent times. I doubt the people contracted to cut the grass and repair the toll roads have got big increases in their salaries. I doubt the cost of providing the service has increased. I imagine it has increased very little because it is a standard service. It is not like something that requires a lot of material like oil in order to provide the service. I do not understand why we have to have it connected in that way. Surely these things should be examined such that we look at the costs incurred and then reflect those costs in the costs charged to the motorists.

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