Traffic costing economy £1.5bn per year

The employer's body, IBEC, says traffic congestion on the nation's roads is costing the economy more than £1.5bn per year.

IBEC says that the development of roads infrastructure under the National Development Plan will not be complete until 2006 at the earliest.

It is putting forward some proposals to help ease congestion in the short term.

IBEC director of transport, Reg McCabe, said a permanent freeflow system at bottlenecks should be introduced