Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The policy of charging tolls on the M50 has been raised on multiple occasions. I would agree with the abolition because it has been long paid for.

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However, I want to take it from a slightly different angle, which is the need to stagger the tolls along the route. In my constituency, areas like Lucan are choked with traffic going through the village every evening, with people avoiding paying the tolls. It has a knock-on effect on the Strawberry Beds, Castleknock, Mulhuddart, Blanchardstown and Clonee. If people are going to be stuck in traffic anyway, they may as well be stuck in traffic on the M50, crossing over the bridge, because this is no longer a thoroughfare between Cork and Belfast. It is used as a local link route. We may need a wider road west of Kilcock, for example, and obviously an improved public transport system. To stop that localised congestion, we need to look at creating a staggered tolling system. That would be fairer and helpful.

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