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The tolls on nine roads, including the M50, will see a significant increase starting next month after a deferral of six months.
Though originally scheduled for January 1st, the toll increases were delayed due to a major furore within the government regarding the cost-of-living crisis. The delay cost the state an estimated €12.5 million to cover lost revenue for toll road operators.
Effective from July 1st, tolls on the M50 will rise by 30c for cars without tags or video accounts, resulting in a journey cost of €3.50. Motorists with tags or video accounts will face a 20c increase, with prices of €2.30 and €2.90 for the former and latter, respectively. Other vehicle categories will also see hikes of up to 50c.
Effected roads include the N18 Limerick Tunnel, N25 Waterford bypass, M1, M7, M8, N6, which will all see toll increases.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) initially announced these increases in November, leading to immediate public backlash due to the rising energy prices at the time. The Coalition later agreed to postpone the changes, compensating TII and the private toll operators.
TII emphasised that tolls for cars and small passenger vehicles on the M50 had remained unchanged for a decade. The organisation justified the increases by stating that they were in line with inflation, reflecting an 8.6% increase in the consumer price index between August 2021 and August 2022. The generated revenue from the toll increases will be allocated for road maintenance.
Back in November when the initial planned date of January 1st was first announced, many opposition members hit out at the idea, with Aontú leader Peadar Toibín TD dubbing it an “absolute disgrace.”
“That the government would increase tolls for commuters at a time when people are suffering from the cost of living crisis is bananas,” he said at the time in an interview with Gript.
“It’s incredible, because the government actually own two tolls. They own the M50 toll and the Eastlink toll, and those tolls have been paid for multiple times by the commuter.
“Aontú put in a parliamentary question in recent times which showed that the commuter has paid €1.3 billion on tolls for the M50 toll, and that’s a total that was built for about €120 or €130 million years ago back in the day. Like, we’ve paid for 10 times over at this stage – it should not be going up at this moment in time.”
When asked if the toll increases could be justified on the basis that the roads had to be maintained, Toibín replied that they could not.
“There’s there’s no doubt it costs money to keep the infrastructure as it should be,” he said.
“But nobody is saying that it’s costing billions of euros to put tarmacadam on to the M50. And you know, over the space of 10 years, these are cash cows – this is not a case whereby they’re looking to actually cover the costs of the inputs. These are cash cows for the government.
“These are a form of taxation, but they’re not a form of taxation that is decided upon how much you earn – you know, progressive tax…the government are taking more on VAT and costs and taxes on fuel now than they did before the cost of living crisis came about. So when the government said they can’t do anything about it the government are not telling the truth.”
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