Nash slams ‘endless’ M1 toll

SENATOR Ged Nash has hit out at the Minister for Transport and Transport Infrastructure Ireland for refusing to rule out the ending of the toll charge at the Donore Road, even when the contract with Celtic Roads Group expires in 2034.

Through a parliamentary question, Senator Nash asked Transport Minister Shane Ross to put on the record the cost of ‘ buying out’ the toll contract if a policy decision were to be made in this regard.

He says no answer was provided to this question.

“The reply I received leaves me fearful that the State will continue to impose an unfair toll at the Donore ramps in a way that would continue to seriously inconvenience the people of the area, using the toll as a cash cow for revenue generation for the roads authority at the permanent expense of the people of Drogheda,” he said. “A clear statement needs to be made by the government that the toll will end when the contract runs out. “

In a letter to TD Jan O’Sullivan, Gary Lynch from Transport Infrastructure Ireland said the toll was placed at the Donore ramps to mitigate ‘rat-running’ which would greatly increase traffic in Drogheda and Julianstown. However, the local Labour Senator says that in 2004, the Fianna Fáil government ‘saddled the people of Drogheda with the toll’. “That is a 30-year contract that the State has shown no intention of breaking and the state agency would not confirm what it plans to do post-2034 when the Fianna Fáil-signed contract ends. “