Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 434: To ask the Minister for Transport if he will introduce shadow tolling on the M50 until open road tolling is introduced in view of the fact that the State received over €190 million in EU funding towards the cost of the construction of the M50. [27416/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The statutory power to levy tolls on national roads, to make toll bye-laws and to enter into toll agreements with private investors in respect of national roads, including the M50, is vested in the National Roads Authority (NRA) under Part V of the Roads Act 1993 (as amended by the Planning and Development Act 2000).

As the Deputy is aware, in January of this year, the NRA decided to replace the West-Link toll on the M50 by a single-point free flow toll in 2008. The installation of free flow tolling is a crucial element of the M50 upgrade which is underway at present.

In that context, the NRA will bring forward specific proposals for the single-point free flow toll arrangement for consideration later this year. At this stage, I would not wish to pre-empt the content of those proposals.