Cullen defends €600m toll bridge buy-out

TRANSPORT Minister Martin Cullen last night defended the Government’s €600 million buy-out of the West Link toll bridge despite motoring groups insisting it will have no impact on the M50’s notorious tail-backs.

The AA warned Mr Cullen’s plan to introduce barrier-free tolling at the same pinch-point where National Toll Roads (NTR) collect their fees from drivers will mean the same bottlenecks persist.

The criticism came as the Cabinet gave the go-ahead to take over the toll bridge from August next year.