The Minister for Transport Mr Cullen tonight dismissed reports that the Government was considering a buyout of the Westlink Toll Bridge.
The National Roads Authority (NRA) confirmed to the Oireachtas Transport Committee yesterday that tentative talks were taking place with the Transport Department around the issue.
But Mr Cullen insisted tonight that there were no proposals on his desk to stage a franchise buyout from National Toll Roads.
He told the Dail: "I think there has been an over-interpretation of what he [NRA chief Fred Barry] was saying and in the way that some of this has been reported.
"I think it has given the impression that there is an immediate prospect of the toll plaza being bought out. That is not the case.
"It is not an immediate prospect. We better clear that up now. There are no proposals on my desk. There are no proposals in the Department of Transport."
Replying to Labour's Roisin Shorthall during priority questions, Mr Cullen said current income from tolls was essential to fund the forthcoming upgrade of the M50.
But he said he didn't accept the NRA's opinion that it would be 2008 or 2009 before barrier-free tolling could be introduced. "I want to move to barrier-free tolling as quickly as possible and I don't accept that a timeframe of four or five years is necessary to achieve that."
NTR currently has the contract to operate the M50 toll plaza, through which over 80,000 vehicles pass each day.
Mr Cullen also refused to review his decision on banning supercube trucks from using Dublin's Port Tunnel.
He told Sinn Fein's Sean Crowe: "I don't see the reason or the need to have these huge trucks on our roads. "The cost of them in terms of maintaining the damage caused to our roads is huge. The safety aspect of them driving through our streets is also huge," he said.
PA