Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this topic. I was in Dundalk yesterday and it was a joy to travel there. The Minister spoke about the roads that have been completed. The road to Dundalk is marvellous. As we crossed the bridge over the River Boyne we did not have to slow down. The tolling system seemed to work very well and I thought of the horror I have to endure every time I go through the toll station at the West Link bridge.

I am very concerned about this issue. I will not touch upon every issue I want to raise because other Senators have done so. A problem exists and I am not particularly keen on the idea that the State should buy out NTR's contract for the M50 toll bridge. The State does not seem to do a very good job negotiating such deals. Much as I admire the ingenuity of the idea that a second bridge should be built, I believe the State would be taken to court immediately by NTR if it built it.

What annoys me most about the present set of circumstances is not the profiteering at the toll station but that the toll bridge is a hindrance to the flow of traffic. I have great difficulty accepting some of the points made by the Minister and Senator Morrissey to the effect that the toll plaza does not cause the delay. I use the M50 frequently, avail of the Eazy Pass system and sometimes pass as many as 50 or 60 cars queuing up to pay by cash.

The whole point of a motorway is to get people from A to B as fast as possible. It defies belief that anybody could create a traffic bottleneck half way between those two points. Bearing in mind Senator O'Toole's remarks on tolling on the Continent, I know a deplorable problem arises if traffic jams occur at the exits to a motorway where the fast traffic feeds onto the normal road system. However, this is not the major problem. It defies all sense to have traffic jams day in, day out, half way along the motorway, where traffic flow should be totally unrestricted. The worst aspect of this situation is that such traffic jams are unnecessary.

Senators have made some of these points already. I missed some of Senator Ross's comments but I know my point was raised when we talked about tolling roads without forcing the traffic to stop. Delays are caused quite simply by the business of collecting cash at the toll stations. Most of the motorists at the M50 toll bridge pay cash. That is part of the problem. I do not know the exact figures but I have certainly noticed 50 or 60 cars, if not hundreds, queuing in two lanes to pay cash at the toll bridge while I passed them in the lane for Eazy Pass users.

I know of no other country in which toll bridges still depend on cash collection. I first encountered a non-cash-based tolling system some ten or 12 years ago as I passed through Sitges. I could not get over the fact that the taxi driver picked me up at the airport and drove me right through the toll plaza without having to stop. I was so impressed that I wrote to Mr. Roche of NTR to tell him about it. He obviously knew about it already. However, the system has still not been introduced in Ireland. The technology to toll roads electronically exists and it is fully tried and proven. Senator Ross referred to it. I am not referring to the Eazy Pass approach, which is already in operation. It still requires each motorist to slow down to a virtual stop at the barrier as his or her pass is verified. One still has to wait for the barrier to lift before one can pass through. That technology is completely out of date. Those of us who have had a chance to visit Australia or Singapore will have seen the new technology and noted that it does work.

The operation of the state-of-the-art technology used for collecting tolls is far from rocket science. It simply involves scanning cars as they pass under a gantry at full speed. Any car without a valid pass automatically has its number plate photographed and a hefty fine is issued to its owner. The system is simple and I have seen it working in other countries. The toll is collected without the traffic having to encounter any delay whatsoever.

A system such as this, if put in place on the M50, would allow cars to pass over the bridge at full speed. There would be no delay and the constant traffic jams at the approach to the bridge would become a thing of the past. If one talks to the toll company about this, it will state it has not introduced the new technology because it has no way of pursuing those who do not pay. There is no provision in our law that allows for this. If this is the problem, it is very easily solved. I was delighted to hear the Minister say legislation is to be introduced. As we know only too well in this House, the Department of Transport can produce a new road traffic Bill at the drop of a hat.

I was stunned to hear Senator Ross state he learned today that it would be another four years before the introduction of open tolling. I was delighted to hear the Minister say that he, like Senator Ross, did not find this acceptable. It should certainly not be beyond the wit of man to write a simple Bill that would provide for the issuing of fines to anybody who passes through a toll plaza without paying and impose on the State the role of pursuing and punishing offenders.

The international experience is such that once the proper system of fining is in place, the vast majority of road users obey the law. The job of pursuing the few evaders is a relatively modest one. I suggest that, instead of urging the Government to break or buy its way out of the agreement with the toll company — both approaches are horrific and will not be adopted — we should urge it to take seriously the congestion that exists at the toll bridge. If this congestion could be prevented, the issue of paying tolls would not be so contentious.

The Government should say to NTR that the present circumstances cannot be allowed to continue and that they should sort it out together. This would be a far better approach than the present one whereby each side washes its hands of the problem and blames the other for the refusal to move forward. If the approach I advocate were adopted it would not take years to introduce new tolling technology. It could be done very quickly, but this would require action on the part of the Minister and the introduction of a new road traffic Bill. The other problems that exist in respect of the M50 are comparatively minor compared with the one the new technology would overcome.