Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)

Some Senators who are on the left of the political spectrum will be amazed to hear that. The tolls charged in China are substantially higher than those charged on the M1 and the M50. There is no reason Ireland should be any different. The toll charges on the M1 do not attract serious criticism. Initially, lorry drivers objected because they were obliged to pay a toll. However, when they discovered that the magnificent roadway to which Senator Quinn has alluded enabled them to save up to an hour on journeys, they quickly changed their tune and were delighted to pay the toll.

As Senator Dooley stated, this country was in a serious economic state when construction of the M50 began. We are all aware of this and many of the speakers have mentioned the fact. To get the road constructed, we had no option but to enter into the agreement in question. I was interested to hear Senator Morrissey outlining the history of the situation. It would make sense to many people, myself included, who use the Blanchardstown roundabout on the way to Dublin. If organisations such as National Toll Roads did not exist, we would not be in a position to provide the infrastructural developments that are under way. For example, we could not construct the badly needed M3 motorway.

I canvassed for over three weeks in County Meath and found that 99.9% of the people I met were in full agreement with the M3 motorway. The word "toll" was never mentioned, although I understand that there will be two tolls on that particular road. It will cost €1 billion to construct, which would not be feasible if we did not have a public private partnership agreement in place. There are 1.3 million taxpayers and their taxes are used to run the entire Government, not just the Department of Transport. Without public private partnerships, we could not afford to maintain our current or proposed levels of road construction.

The people of counties Meath and Cavan want to see this kind of development in the future and tolls are not a difficulty. I know that some Members will be surprised to hear a Cavan man say that. However, if the journey time from Cavan to Dublin could be shortened by 40 or 45 minutes, we would even be willing to pay the toll twice.

As Senator Dooley indicated, the people from my region want bypasses of Virginia and Belturbet put in place and the railway extended from Clonee to Navan and on to Kingscourt. Eventually, they want a railway to run from Navan to Cavan and on to Donegal. These projects cannot reach fruition without the type of investment we discussed.

Although people get annoyed about delays and hassle, the problem lies not with toll charges but with gridlock. When the M50 was designed 20 or 25 years ago, future usage was seriously underestimated. Several factors, including the growth in our economy, increased vehicle ownership, an increased number of vehicles on the road and an increase in population have contributed to peak hour gridlock on the M50. We are not alone with this problem, which is faced by all major urban centres in the western world. Our difficulty lies in how to deal with the increase in traffic. Under the national development plan, the Government continues to invest billions of euros in transport infrastructure. The improvements can be seen throughout the country in our national routes and in the wonderful Luas project. We must remember that the fallout associated with our ever-growing and unprecedented economic success cannot be solved overnight. The Government is investing more money and has been more successful in improving our infrastructure than any of its predecessors.

Senator Ross stated that my good friend and colleague, Senator Kate Walsh, is against tolls. It should be put on the record that she is not against tolls. Rather, she is opposed to queues and favours barrier-free tolls.

I also wish to take issue with Senator O'Toole who suggested that we should consider buying back the M50 toll bridges.