M50 toll switch to take a year - Ahern

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the Government had no plans to get rid of tolling on the M50 during renewed exchanges on the future of the motorway.

"The Government is anxious to remove the toll plaza as soon as possible. We will not get rid of tolling, but will move to electronic, free-flow tolling on the motorway." Mr Ahern said the Government could not just walk away from the contract with the toll-operating company, National Toll Roads (NTR), which runs until 2020.

"Legally, we cannot do that. We are advised it will take about a year to go through the procurement process and then to go through all of the technical arrangements.

"I personally believe that is an extremely long period of time, but I am advised that is the position."

Mr Ahern repeated that between now and the end of the year there would be an enormously detailed assessment of the traffic requirements on the entire M50, which had not been done as part of the original An Bord Pleanála decision.

The Taoiseach was replying to Labour leader Pat Rabbitte who said that on Tuesday the Taoiseach seemed to want to distance himself and the Government from the announcement by Minister for Transport Martin Cullen, and subsequent stories by him and inspired by him, to the effect the Government planned to lift the barrier on the West Link bridge and install four new tolls along the M50.

"The only thing that is clear from yesterday is that the hard-pressed motorist can expect no alleviation between now and 2008."

Referring to newspaper reports on the issue, Mr Rabbitte said that, according to The Irish Times, "the new system, which will be implemented by the National Roads Authority (NRA), will mean that the entire road will be tolled".

He added that the "civil servant English" had read: "The NRA will invite tenders for the design, building and operation of a multi-point, free-flow, barrier-free toll regime on the M50."

Mr Ahern said Mr Rabbitte's information was from two newspapers and what civil servants had said.

"We began this week to spend an additional €1 billion on the M50, to increase capacity by 50 per cent over the next number of years. This, coupled with the completion of the Naas Road project, will significantly help the flow of traffic."

Mr Rabbitte said the Taoiseach had come into the House, after all the years of protesting on behalf of hard-pressed motorists, and was telling people that there must now be assessments of traffic flows and a year spent on procurement.

"How can we have reached a stage after nine years where the Government is now monitoring traffic flows?"

Accusing Mr Rabbitte of being poorly informed on the issue, the Taoiseach said the reason for the demand management upgrade was that the council, on which Labour had a majority, had demanded that a management flow study be undertaken.

Mr Rabbitte said that was a red herring.