Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Anyone who drove through Fermoy in the 1990s and early 2000s and was caught up in inevitable traffic delays will remember a sign on the Dublin side of the town apologising for the delay and demanding a bypass. Following a long-standing campaign, the local community was very pleased when a bypass was finally built. In many respects, however, Fermoy did not benefit from the bypass because a toll was imposed almost immediately, resulting in large trucks continuing to pass through the town as haulage companies sought to avoid the toll. The problem has been compounded in recent years by two major floods which caused significant damage. Work on the necessary flood relief in Fermoy has meant the town is effectively a building site and continues to be a traffic bottleneck.

Members of the local community are annoyed the bypass was not included in a scheme under which roads tolls will be lifted on certain roads in November. On hearing of the proposal, local people were hopeful the town would benefit and the lifting of the toll on the bypass would convince hauliers to use the bypass and encourage people to visit the town for shopping in the run-up to Christmas. Moreover, the reduction in haulage traffic in the town would have presented an opportunity to complete some of the flood relief works.

I am disappointed Government Deputies failed to have the town bypass included in the roads on which tolls will be lifted in November. I hope the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport is willing to reconsider the matter and have Fermoy included in the scheme.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome steps which will make business a little easier for hauliers. In light of the efforts the Government has made in this regard, I am pleased to give credit where it is due. The lifting of tolls for hauliers in November will help make the year a little easier for haulage companies, many of which are barely scraping a living as a result of the ongoing recession and the rising cost of keeping vehicles on the road. The lifting of tolls will help local economies by freeing up regional and local roads and giving local people greater access to local businesses.

In his press statement on the initiative, the Minister expressed concern that large numbers of heavy goods vehicles, HGVs, continue to use regional and local roads to avoid tolls and are driving through towns, villages and rural areas. This practice, he continued, has safety implications for other road users, residents and pedestrians. In addition, by using local and regional roads instead of custom built motorways, HGVs are adding to the wear and tear of the legacy roads network, the statement noted. If safety and avoiding wear and tear are the reasons for removing tolls for heavy goods vehicle, one would find it difficult to find a more suitable route than the Fermoy bypass for inclusion in the scheme. The case for doing so has been well made by Deputy McLellan.

Members of the local community in Fermoy very much hope the initiative will be extended to include the M8. The Revive Fermoy group, in particular, believed the inclusion of the town bypass would be a useful exercise. The chairman of Fermoy Town Council's traffic management sub-committee, independent councillor Michael Hanley, was under the impression the scheme would be a national initiative and expressed disappointment at the exclusion from it of the Fermoy bypass. Local people also believe its inclusion would help in terms of assessing the value of using the motorway route versus traversing the town.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to address this issue and I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar, for his absence.

The Minister has responsibility for overall policy and funding for the national roads programme. The implementation of individual national road projects is a matter for the National Roads Authority, NRA, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Furthermore, the statutory powers to levy tolls on national roads, make toll by-laws and enter into toll agreements with private investors in respect of national roads are vested in the NRA under Part V of the Roads Act 1993, as amended by the Planning and Development Act 2000, and the Roads Act 2007. While toll rates vary in line with consumer prices, the base rates are built into the public private partnership financing arrangements which enabled the high quality motorway network to be built.

Completion of the major inter-urban motorway programme in recent years has greatly enhanced the freight industry's access to a high quality road network between key urban centres. Given the scale of the investment in our motorways, an issue of concern to the Minister is the number of heavy goods vehicles which divert on to regional and local roads to avoid tolls and drive through towns, villages and rural areas rather than use the custom built motorways. This practice has significant safety implications for other road users, residents and pedestrians and adds to the wear and tear of the legacy roads network. For this reason, earlier this year the Minister asked the National Roads Authority to examine the feasibility of lifting tolls for HGVs for one month on one or more motorways. He made clear at the time that the scope of the trial would be subject to consideration of the costs involved. He, therefore, asked the NRA to engage with all the toll companies to assess the costs associated with this initiative. Given the high costs associated with rolling out the scheme throughout the network, it was not possible to include all tolled roads in the scheme. Best practice for a short-term pilot such as this is to examine the efficacy of the scheme at a limited number of tolling points. The selection of the pilot tolls was made on the basis of analysis conducted by the NRA.

The Minister, through the trial involving a toll free month on certain routes, wants to ascertain if HGV fleet operators can be persuaded to make greater use of the motorways. He considers that this will provide a worthwhile opportunity to study traffic levels in detail and assess the implications. It will also give fleet operators an opportunity to evaluate the time and efficiency benefits of using the motorways in question. While all routes cannot be included in the trial, the findings arising from this month long survey will feed into general tolling policy.

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. While I understand this is a pilot scheme, in light of the need to support businesses in Fermoy, does he accept that including the Fermoy bypass would make a significant difference for the town, especially given that flood relief works are taking place? Local businesses face significant pressures and some are closing with each passing month. Having been hit hard by severe flooding, Fermoy is struggling because the large number of haulage trucks passing through the town and ongoing substantial flood relief works have resulted in traffic choking up the town. Local people need a break and businesses need support. Will the Minister of State indicate whether a relaxation of tolls will be considered in future?

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I noted the Minister of State's point that the decisions in this matter were taken by the National Roads Authority in conjunction with local authorities. It is clear, however, that the NRA introduced the pilot scheme in response to a request from the Minister. This indicates that the Minister has a certain amount of influence on what roads will be included in the scheme. As the main road between Dublin and Cork, I do not understand the rationale for not including the M8 in the initiative. Moreover, why was December, the busiest month for hauliers, not chosen for the pilot scheme? In discussions with the NRA and local authorities, did the Minister insist that main roads be included in the pilot scheme? Did he supply a list of roads for inclusion or was the NRA allowed to choose which toll points would be included in the scheme? I am not clear as to the reason for the approach that has been taken.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I know Fermoy well.

I take the point the Deputies have made about difficulties for businesses and all the reorganisation. I passed through it over the weekend and I agree with what they have said that many trucks were going in. That was the reason for putting this in place. There was no reason to pick any particular month - November was the month the Minister selected. As I outlined earlier in my response, he realises there is a problem and we now need to wait and see. Obviously Fermoy has a particular difficulty. I will mention it to him again and put the particular case of Fermoy to him. I will not give any commitment. The Deputies outlined that it is a special case. At the end of the day it is down to the cost of doing this. The Minister obviously realises that there is a problem and he will try to deal with it.