Creeping privatisation - Who benefits most from toll roads?

THERE are all sorts of cost and environmental reasons to reduce our dependency on private cars but now it seems we will have to add the growing number of toll roads to that equation.

Figures published this week suggest that motorists in some parts of the country will have to pay up to €50 a week just to drive their heavily taxed car to an expensive parking place so they can get to work.

If you are a PAYE worker commuting to and from Dublin that means you may have to earn nearly €5,000 a year just to pay tolls. Add to that another €4,000 to pay the average €2,000 per annum parking bill and you’d be entitled to feel a tad glum. Basically, very many commuters face another levy so they can get to work to pay their bills. The fact that it is a levy to enhance the bottom line of a private company rather that a contribution to the Government to fund some public service or other makes the idea even less palatable.