Company earns €50m from tolls on Irish roads

INFRASTRUCTURE company NTR made close to €50 million from the tolls it operates on Irish roads in the 15 months to March 31, 2006.

Total earnings by the group, whose interests range from toll roads to renewable energy projects, came to €84m over the period.

The toll road contribution to group earnings is starting to decline, however, as the group expands into other areas of activity such as wind energy and waste management.

The group also stands to make €600m from the sale of its M50 toll franchise to the State, if current negotiations can deliver an agreement acceptable to both sides.

Negotiations are under way with the National Roads Authority (NRA), which is attempting to buy out NTR’s contract.

Discussions were formalised last year after public outrage about log jams on the roundabouts on to the M50 prompted Government action.

In a statement yesterday with its annual results, NTR said its immediate priority “is to reach agreement with the NRA in relation to the future of West-Link”.

This was being pursued given the Government’s statement of intent that it wanted to replace conventional tolling with an open road tolling system on the M50 from July 2008, said NTR boss Jim Barry.

Since 2000, the cost of tolls have risen dramatically with major gains to the toll group and the State.

For every €1 collected in tolls, the State takes €55 cent and has been a major beneficiary of the tolling system since its inception.

As the dispute over open tolling built up, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee summoned Mr Barry to testify before it earlier this year.

At the time, Mr Barry told committee members that the total cost to the State of buying out its rights to the M50 toll could be as high as €600m.

But a spokesman for the company warned last night that, as the through-flows at the M50 rise by the time the two sides sit down to do a deal, the cost to the State of buying out NTR could be significantly higher.

Open tolling is expected to free up the jams onto the M50 but the company has argued all along that allowing free-flowing traffic would make the problem worse, not better.

NTR believes that lack of other feed roads into the system is a major problem, and maintains the finger of blame points to the Government in that respect.

The group has said that unless the issue of additional infrastructure is tackled, commuters using the toll bridge on the M50 will continue to face long delays on their daily commutes to and from work.