Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Donohoe.

Meath River Rescue was founded in 1996 to help the other services to search and recover missing persons. It is a voluntary organisation and, realistically, receives much of its funding through the support of the people in Meath via donations from church gate collections, collection tins placed at local business premises and individual donations. It currently has a membership of 35 persons and that is divided into groups of divers. They have extremely experienced swimmers, a number of coxswains, crew members as well as personnel trained in the provision of first aid and all of these members offer their time on a voluntary basis.

It is not easy work. The rescue service can carry out all types of services, whether on land or in water. Unfortunately, most of the time, when they are carrying out searches in the water, they are generally looking for bodies rather than persons who are still alive. It is extremely difficult work. The rescue service holds weekly training sessions for both new and established members and although the members are volunteers, sufficient personnel are always available to mount searches and continue them for as long as possible. In order to assist a particular family, for example, a search could last months.

The rescue service has grown from a small number of members to its present complement. In 2006, it reorganised and obtained charity status with the help of Meath County Council, which provided it with a site. Then, with assistance from many others, €120,000 was raised in two months and it enabled an agreement to be made with Meath Partnership for a new purpose-built bathhouse, which cost over €370,000 and which I had the pleasure of helping to open.

Meath River Rescue offers an invaluable service, not just to the people of Meath but also to those who live in the surrounding counties. As the Minister of State is aware, there are many people doing a great deal of good work. It is very tough work which takes up time and energy and it is all done on a voluntary basis. Much of Meath River Rescue's finance come from fund-raising. It is extremely difficult for organisations to raise funds at present. People in Ireland are always very generous when it comes to donating to charities or other organisations but we have all gone through a difficult time and money is not easy to come by.

This leads me to the issue that I want to raise. The vehicles used by Meath River Rescue are not exempt from the toll on the M3 or, for that matter, from any toll. In particular, the M3 motorway is used regularly by the crew and if one were to add up the amount of tolls paid by the organisation during one year, it would amount to the proceeds of a number of fund-raisers. That is a large amount of money.

Rescue services are normally exempt from paying tolls. Under the Roads Act 1993, ambulances, fire brigade vehicles and vehicles used by members of the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces are exempt from payment of tolls. However, the Irish Coast Guard, mountain rescue teams and other community-based voluntary organisations, including river rescue, are not. These organisations, in particular Meath River Rescue, provide an invaluable service on a voluntary basis and the amount of money that this would cost the Exchequer on a yearly basis is very little compared to how much it would help these organisations who assist so many families in Meath.

I ask the Minister to reconsider the organisations that are able to avail of it.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy McEntee for the opportunity to address this issue on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Donohoe. It gives us further opportunity to acknowledge publicly, as the Deputy has outlined, the valuable work of organisations such as Meath River Rescue. As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Donohoe has responsibility for overall policy and funding of the national roads programme. The planning, design and implementation of individual road projects is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, formerly the NRA, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned.

The statutory power to levy tolls on national roads such as the M3, make toll by-laws and enter into toll agreements with private investors in respect of national roads is vested in TII under Part V of the Roads Act 1993 as amended by the Planning and Development Act 2000 and the Roads Act 2007. The Roads Act 1993 sets out the legislative provisions regarding tolling and section 62 of the Act specifies the categories of vehicles which are exempt from the payment of toll charges. As the Deputy outlined, only ambulance, fire brigade vehicles and vehicles used by members of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces in the performance of their duties as such members are exempt from the payment of tolls. The Irish Coast Guard of the Minister's Department, mountain rescue teams and other community based voluntary emergency services and groups are not exempt from the payment of tolls.

Although voluntary and community organisations such as Meath River Rescue provide a valuable service, in order to ensure the implementation of a fair and robust system of tolling enforcement, it is essential that it be applied equally to all users. It would be very difficult, for example, to provide an exemption for one voluntary organisation over another. TIl has received numerous requests for exemptions from tolls from organisations that have merit including charities, medical groups, individual medical personnel and a multitude of other entities. TIl has been unable to accede to those requests, given that it has entered into binding concession contracts in respect of most of the toll roads. Making the voluntary and community sector generally exempt from tolls would incur a cost to the Exchequer, given that the PPP toll operators would have to be reimbursed for losses, and TIl is not in a position to do this. There is, however, nothing to prevent a group such as Meath River Rescue making direct contact with toll operators with a view to entering into an agreement regarding exemption from tolls. I encourage this, and the organisation may receive a positive response from the operators.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his response. The Minister's response stated that it is essential that it be applied equally to all users. It is not applied equally. While Meath River Rescue is a charity and a number of other charities may request something similar, in many cases, when a rescue mission is sent out, particularly to areas of water, it may be looking for somebody who is still alive. Sometimes, time is of the essence. A measure such as this could assist an organisation such as Meath River Rescue. Could the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, bring this to the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and request figures on how much it would cost the Exchequer? While it might seem a lot of money, it would not be much, considering how much it would benefit the individual organisations, especially those that are helping other services such as the ambulance, fire services and Defence Forces, which are exempt from tolls. I will get in touch with TII and I ask the Minister for support on the issue.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I understand exactly where the Deputy is coming from and her concerns. If one starts to make exemptions for one voluntary organisation, where does it stop? Many of them have great merit, as the Deputy outlined. The Roads Act 1993 specifies the categories that are exempt, namely, the ambulance, fire brigade, Garda Síochána and Defence Forces. I will undertake to bring the Deputy's specific question on the cost of exempting more organisations from the toll to the Minister for a direct response to the Deputy. I encourage Meath River Rescue to approach the toll operators to see whether progress could be made. Again, I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter, which brings into focus the valuable work of rescue organisations, which none of us should underestimate, be it mountain, sea or river rescue or the coastguard. These people volunteer their time, expertise and effort to look after others and should be supported in any way possible. I accept the Deputy's concerns and will pass them on to the Minister.