Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, gabhaim comhghairdeas leis as a cheapachán agus go n-éirí an t-ádh leis ina phost nua. Táim ag ardú ceiste a bhaineann le mótarbhealaí agus na tolls atá dháíoc orthu. Deir ráitis a tháinig amach seachtain nó dhóó shin ón AA nach bhfuil daoine ag úsáid na mótarbhealaí mar gheall ar na tolls atá ann. Táthar anois ag caint ar dhá toll a chur ar an mbóthar idir Gort Inse Guaire agus Tuaim. An ndéanann sé aon chiall sa lá atá inniu ann go bhfuil muid ag íoc €500,000 in aghaidh na míosa i dtáillí leis na comhlachtaí toll toisc nach bhfuil dóthain tráchta ag dul tríd na dola-dhroichid?

I refer to the logic of charging a toll to use the Gort to Tuam motorway. We heard from the AA during the week that motorists were not using motorways because of the cost involved and that the toll income the State was generating was not enough to pay the companies which had build the motorways. We must pay €500,000 a month in penalties to these companies because the tolls are not generating enough income. It is clear to Sinn Féin that the policy of tolling roads is not working and that the PPP model on which it is built does not work.

Some €500,000 a month is being paid to the private operators of the M3 motorway and the N18 Limerick tunnel. The National Roads Authority, NRA, has confirmed that traffic volumes have fallen short of the guarantees given by the State. The payments amount to an annualised figure of €5.9 million which will be paid because traffic volumes on the two routes have fallen below agreed thresholds. At €5.9 million, this is more than four times the authorities' revenue share from all of its other PPP toll motorways. According to the NRA, traffic volumes have failed to trigger a profit for the State on the toll motorways between Dublin and the cities of Waterford, Cork and Limerick and in the case of one of the two tolls charged on the Dublin to Galway route. Two such toll motorways constructed in the past decade, at a cost of €8 billion, are returning a payment to the State, namely, the M1 and the M4. However, in this case, the combined revenue was €1.47 million in 2010, the latest year for which figures are available.

Commenting on these figures at the weekend, the NRA stated the payments to the operators of the Limerick tunnel and the M3 toll motorway were in line with budget expectations. This shows the utterly flawed nature of PPPs and highlights the folly of Government policy on roads and road tolling. The Government is following the policy of the previous Government which put this arrangement in place. We ask it to revise and rethink this arrangement. The NRA has offered the excuse that most of the losses are borne by the PPP companies, but that misses the point that major amounts of money are being lost to the State because of the Government's road tolling policy.

We regularly hear excuses about the limited financial resources available which we understand and appreciate. Accordingly, the Minister of State will understand our frustration and that of the people when we see such waste. Some €500,000 is being paid to private operators at a time when schools in my constituency are unable to acquire windows and doors to keep out the cold. Some €500,000 is being paid to private operators at a time when the HSE states there will be a shortage of junior doctors and there is not enough money available to pay an operating grant to Galway Airport which forms an essential part of regional infrastructure. This is proof that there is both waste and profligacy. This is the waste we need to eliminate. We do not need to cut essential services and the pay of the least well-off.

Detailed figures reveal that between September and December 2010, the most recent figures available, the subvention paid to the operators of the Limerick tunnel was €1.24 million. The subvention paid in respect of the M3 motorway between October and December of the same year amounted to €547,000. Utilising the revenue raised on the M1 and M4 motorways for the entire year still left a shortfall of €317,000.

Even more worrying are the statements from Plan Better which consist of four groups - An Taisce, Friends of the Earth, Friends of the Irish Environment and FEASTA . The cost of subsidising private operators could rise to €100 million if traffic levels remain static or continue to fall in the coming years. Figures compiled by the group show that traffic on the M3 which runs from Clonee to north of Kells, County Meath, was almost 5,000 vehicles per day below the level at which subsidies must be paid to the Eurolink consortium which built it.Táim ag ardú na ceiste, An ndéanann sé ciall leanacht leis an polasaí seo ó thaobh na PPPs de agus a bheith ag cur tolls ar mhuintir na Gaillimhe de €22 milliún in aghaidh na bliana nuair is léir nach bhfuil an polasaí seo ag oibriu?

John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue and congratulate him on his election to the Seanad. I offer apologies from my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, for his inability to make this Adjournment debate. He is currently travelling between Luxembourg where he was attending a meeting of the European Union Transport Ministers and Frankfurt where is due to attend a number of Tourism Ireland promotional events.

In the first instance, I would like to clarify that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has responsibility for overall policy and funding in regard to the national roads programme. The statutory power to levy tolls on national roads, to make toll by-laws and to enter into toll agreements with private investors in respect of national roads, is 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.

To date the main emphasis of tolling policy has been on toll-based public private partnerships, PPPs, for national roads, with tolls being used as part remuneration for private investment. In addition, public tolls are levied on the M50 and Dublin Port tunnel with all revenues being reinvested in the national road network.

Currently there are ten toll schemes in operation on national roads in Ireland. The contracts for the privately-operated toll schemes are commercial agreements between the NRA and the PPP concessionaires concerned. Under the terms of the PPP contracts, a revenue sharing arrangement with the NRA becomes applicable in circumstances where pre-defined traffic thresholds are exceeded. Two PPP contracts, the M3 Clonee-Kells PPP and Limerick tunnel PPP incorporate a traffic guarantee mechanism, the purpose of which within the overall financial package for the project was to enhance the fundability of these projects and obtain competitive funding terms to the benefit of the taxpayer. These contracts were signed in 2007 and 2006, respectively.

In regard to future tolling plans, the national roads traffic management study published recently together with other work being undertaken by the NRA will help inform consideration of future tolling options. However, to date no decisions have been made in relation to future tolling strategy.

Nevertheless, given Ireland's overall financial situation and the restrictions on funding in the years ahead, the introduction of further tolls as a means of generating revenue for road investment needs into the future cannot be ruled out and warrants further serious and detailed consideration. Any future tolling policy is likely to be based on public tolls directly raising revenue rather than on private toll-based investment.

The Senator may wish to note that a number of further PPP roads are currently at tender stage. However, none of these new PPP schemes will be subject to tolling. Rather these are being implemented as unitary payment PPPs, that is by way of annual payments by the NRA for the duration of the contract. Again, I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. It is an area of consideration for the Government.

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the fact about future roads not having a toll. Will the Minister of State convey our concerns to the Minister? The AA statement basically states that tolls are driving people back onto old roads. That is clogging up towns. People are not using the motorways, which is a serious concern. We need to get people back onto motorways. The best way to do that is to release the tolls.

John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I will raise the Senator's concerns about this important issue with the Minister. They will be taken into consideration in the future plans for infrastructural development in Ireland.