Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 105: To ask the Minister for Transport if it is intended to continue to fund parts of the road construction programme through a tolling mechanism; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3566/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The national roads improvement programme, in line with the national development plan and, more recently, Transport 21, provides for the procurement and construction of a number of major national road projects as toll public-private partnership projects. The current position is that three projects — the second West Link bridge, the Dundalk western bypass and the Kilcock-Kinnegad section of the N4 — have been completed. Work is under way on the Fermoy bypass and work is due to start on the Waterford city bypass and phase two of the Limerick southern ring road this year.

A number of other toll PPP projects — the N6 Galway-Ballinasloe, the N7-N8 Portlaoise-Cullahill and the M50 PPP upgrade — are at earlier stages of procurement, but I understand the National Roads Authority expects these schemes to be in construction by early 2007. The Clonee-Kells section of the N3 is before the courts and the timeline for commencing that scheme will depend on the outcome of the hearing. In addition, the Dublin Port tunnel will open this year.

Toll charges are being applied to the tunnel for traffic management purposes. The NRA estimates that private sector investment in the toll PPP projects completed to date amounts to approximately €500 million. Private sector investment in toll PPPs over the period to 2010 is estimated to be approximately €2 billion.

The projects to be undertaken as toll PPPs have been selected by the NRA having regard to a number of principles. One of these key principles is that toll roads should be spread across the main national routes to create an equitable distribution of user charging on the newly constructed network along with the benefits of the accelerated delivery of the new roads. Another fundamental underlying principle of the NRA PPP programme is that an alternative toll-free route be available for road users.

Toll PPPs are only undertaken following rigorous assessment in line with Department of Finance requirements and guidelines relating to PPPs and capital appraisal and when it is determined that the toll PPP approach offers value for money. The toll programme is making a significant contribution to the accelerated implementation of the national roads upgrade programme. It has also facilitated the more extensive use of private sector expertise in the design, construction and operation of facilities.

While the scope for additional toll road PPPs is limited, the scale and cost of the national roads programme, combined with the demands of the other sectors which limit the capacity to allocate more Exchequer funding, require that all possibilities for generating additional funding to accelerate the implementation of the national roads programme be considered and kept under review. It is a matter for the NRA in the first instance to consider and propose projects to be undertaken as toll PPP projects. In summary, the toll road PPP programme will continue to make a significant contribution to the implementation of the national roads improvement programme.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister and welcome the clarification but I question the need to continue. While I understand the original rationale behind using tolling to pay for roads, we no longer need the money. Last year we had a surplus of €1.8 billion as a result of a more favourable budget outcome than expected. The Stability and Growth Pact restrictions have been removed so there is no reason to continue tolling except, perhaps, as the Minister said, to benefit from private sector expertise. Can that not be achieved through design, construction and operation without also asking that the private sector finance roads? On the M50, whatever about the obscene profits made by the private sector, my real objection is the loss of control of the road and the traffic management as a result of giving a ransom strip to a private company.

The Minister said one of the requirements is that toll roads would be spread equitably throughout the country. Clearly that is not the case. The Galway road will have two tolls, and drivers on this route might also face tolls at the M50 and the East Link. I am not sure it meets any of the criteria originally envisaged as a reason for tolling. Would the Minister agree that the diversion rates on roads outside Dublin are high? The diversion rate on the newly opened Kinnegad bypass is still growing. Has there been any calculation of an acceptable diversion rate? The level of traffic that can be generated outside the populous Dublin area is such that it requires a high toll to give a return to the private sector and the higher the toll, the greater the diversion rate. Are we trying to milk it for all it is worth by persisting with tolling when we have the money and could maintain control while benefitting from private sector expertise by using another model?

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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A fair assessment would say that my Department received a major contribution from the Exchequer in Transport 21 and we have laid out €34.4 billion. In a perfect world with no competing demands from other Departments, one might be able to take all the State's resources and put them into infrastructure, but that is not the case. We have outlined a major investment programme in a range of areas, specifically in roads, over the next few years.

There is no doubt that the added capacity we can get through accelerated delivery of roads throughout the country has been enhanced by the availability of PPP projects to us. Many Deputies from both sides of the House ask me to speed up the delivery of their projects and are open to their delivery as a PPP if it means they can be moved up in the programme. Even businesses from local areas have made the same case because they think advancing and accelerating these projects delivers an economic benefit to everybody, even with a toll, rather than waiting six, seven or ten years to get the project. It is built into the programme. Everybody accepts that our share of the taxpayers' contribution to the Exchequer is massive.

The Deputy raised an interesting question on diversion rates and it is important to put this on the record. The main cause of diversion from toll roads is gridlock.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Demonstrably not.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I am telling the Deputy what the research and facts indicate. The figures on the Dundalk bypass are way beyond expectation. They are running at approximately 26,500 cars per day on the Drogheda and Dundalk bypass. I do not have the final Kilcock-Kinnegad figures yet but they are running at 16,000 to 18,000 per day, exactly the level expected.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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It is dropping on that road.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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There are no such figures. Much notional debate occurs around these issues. People speculate and make comments but in fact — we should all deal with facts — the volume of traffic using the Kilcock-Kinnegad road is exactly in line with expectations. It is untrue to say that where tolls are in operation, they are not having an impact on the local communities by taking traffic out of those communities. They deliver a positive return for the NRA and for the toll users. Expected figures are being met on all tolls and are way ahead on most.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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There is nobody better than the Minister at notional debate. Is it not true that the saving of €2 billion in the short term costs motorists about €5.5 billion in the long run?

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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If Ireland was the only country on the planet involved in tolling, then the Deputy might have an argument. Every modern economy uses tolls. It is a legitimate——

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I am not objecting to tolls, but to the use of tolls to have the private sector build and own the roads indefinitely.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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It is a legitimate part of the contribution of developing a range of infrastructure here, as it has been in every country throughout the world.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Government is now buying a road back for €900 million.

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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We should not pretend we are doing something different to that which happens elsewhere. That is simply not true.