Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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35. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to consider a review of the toll charge imposed on the M1 at Drogheda and in particular the slip road tolls where persons have to pay a toll on entry and exit to the town and the detrimental effect it is having on local businesses, small hauliers and tourism and investment, in addition to adding to the congestion in an already congested town; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22795/16]

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister conduct a review of the toll charge imposed on the M1 in Drogheda and particularly the imposition of a toll on slip roads entering and exiting the town? Will he review the adverse effect this has on local business and tourism, townspeople and small hauliers, and the everyday practicality of getting from one side of the town to the other?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​I thank the Deputy for her question. I am not familiar with the exact situation she is referring to, but I have learnt a fair amount about it in the past 24 hours and I am grateful to the Deputy for pointing the situation out.

As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding of the national roads programme. The planning, design and operation of individual roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Furthermore, the statutory power to levy tolls on national roads, to make toll by-laws and to enter into agreements relating to tolls on national roads is vested in TII under Part V of the Roads Act 1993 as amended.  The contractual arrangements relating to M1 tolls are, therefore, matters for TII. There is no provision under the legislation whereby I, as Minister, could review the toll charges on the M1.

I understand that TII entered into a 30-year contract in 2004 with the public private partnership company Celtic Roads Group to construct a bypass of Dundalk and operate and maintain this section of road together with 42 km of the existing motorway. As part of this contract the PPP company is entitled to charge tolls in line with the approved toll scheme. The approved toll scheme provides for tolls on the main motorway and the Donore interchange ramps. My understanding is that the Donore ramp toll plazas were installed to mitigate possible "rat running," with the adverse impacts that would have on local communities. In response to concerns expressed at the time about the possible impact on businesses in Drogheda, the approved toll scheme stipulates that where a vehicle exits the motorway, having paid a toll, and re-enters within three hours, no further charge is payable.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Is the Minister aware that Drogheda is the only town in Ireland to be tolled? There is a toll tax on entering and exiting the town. To say that it is having an adverse effect on local businesses, tourism, parents leaving their kids to school, small hauliers and day-to-day business about the town is no exaggeration. As an example of the ludicrous situation, a person who wants to go from Woodies, in the retail park on the north side of the town, to Argos, in the retail park on the south side, must pay that toll or be forced to drive through the centre of town. The slip road tolls were supposed to have been put in to avoid rat-running but they have had the opposite effect. They have added to the serious congestion in Drogheda and at times they have ground Drogheda to a halt. Will the Minister conduct a review? Will he arrange a meeting with TII? Will he state explicitly the adverse effects this is having on the town, which is the only town in Ireland to be subject to this toll, and agree that the negative effects are far-reaching? Why would an investor who compares Drogheda with another town, in view of the fact that there is a toll charge to enter or exit the town, put Drogheda above the other town?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I am impressed with what the Deputy says, but I think this may be a double-edged sword. As so often happens in this House, the Deputy is asking me to do things I am not empowered to do. I will meet the TII very shortly. I cannot remember the date; it is either in the next week or two or in August. If the Deputy gives me a briefing on this I will give it to the TII at that meeting. I am interested in what the Deputy says and will listen to what the TII has to say and go from there. I will put it directly to the people there who have the power to make decisions on something like this.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his response, but I cannot state clearly enough the adverse effect this is having on the town. The removal of these slip road tolls would not only give the town a boost but would encourage more business. It is a crazy situation and it is the only town in Ireland to be tolled. It is hard to see how that slip road toll is cost-effective, because it means that many people drive through the town, adding to the congestion, to avoid a couple of kilometres on the motorway when travelling from the north to the south of Drogheda. To be charged a toll to enter and exit a town would only compound congestion in Drogheda. Would the Minister invite a delegation from TII and come to Drogheda with it to witness the adverse effect on the town?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I am not going to invite a delegation to see the town at this stage, but, as I said, I will put the case the Deputy has made, see what the TII has to say about it, and inform the Deputy of the result, because I think that is important. If the tolls were simply to be removed from the interchange, it might be expected to create a diversion from the M1 at this junction, attracting other traffic that wishes to avoid the mainline toll. Reducing mainline traffic would reduce mainline toll revenue as well as eliminating the revenue currently being collected at the junction. Traffic through Drogheda town centre would be little changed, but traffic on local routes such as the R152 through Duleek and the R132 through Julianstown would be increased by thousands of vehicles a day.