TII Confirm Impending Rise In Toll Charges On Motorways

The Government’s six-month deferment of toll increases will conclude on June 30th and standard regulated toll in line with the inflationary increase will take effect on July 1st.

All tolls on the national road network are regulated through inflation (CPI) and cannot go above inflation.

There are ten toll roads on the national road network – eight are operated under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and two are operated directly on behalf of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which are the M50 and Dublin Port Tunnel.

Toll revenue is used for purposes including motorway maintenance, toll collection and operations, and for the maintenance of the wider national road network.

Toll increases for 2023 are driven by the current rate of inflation. The CPI increased by 8.6% between August 2021 and August 2022.

The M50 is a user pay funded motorway, through a barrier-free tolling system.

TII is required under legislation to maintain a safe and efficient network of national roads and the M50 toll funds the maintenance and operation of the M50.

A deferment of the toll increase on the M50 would have required funding to be reallocated from other national road projects and reduce funding for asset management and renewal activities.

M50 Maximum Tolls/Applicable Tolls 2023

The Public Private Tolling Operations (PPP): There are eight PPP tolls throughout country.

The PPP companies have submitted their toll charge calculations as part of their Annual Toll Plans. TII have reviewed these submissions and concur with the Maximum Toll charges calculated. Table 7 sets out the calculated 2023 Maximum Toll charges for the 8 PPP Concession schemes. The toll charges include VAT @23%. All PPP companies have proposed setting their 2023 Appropriate Tolls at the 2023 Maximum Tolls. The CPI increased by 8.6% between August 2021 and August 2022 and this has resulted in increased tolls on all PPP schemes. (As can be seen from the annual change in Appropriate Tolls between 2013 and 2022 across the 8 PPP Concessions, there have been minimal increases in tolls in the last decade apart from 2022.)

The Bye-Laws for the different PPP toll roads (or concessions) typically provide that:

Table 7  PPP Concession Maximum Tolls/Appropriate Tolls

Dublin Port Tunnel – Remain Unchanged (No Increase in 2023)

The tolling system for the Dublin Port Tunnel is intended to manage demand at peak times and ensure HGV movements to and from Dublin Port are not impeded with additional traffic and congestion, (HGV’s travel toll-free through the Dublin Port Tunnel), there is no current justification for raising the toll charges on non-HGV’s, given the fact that the current arrangements are effective for managing demand.  Any congestion is infrequent and is generally more related to incidents such as road traffic collisions, matches, concerts, and emergency roadworks. TII Board has confirmed there will be no change to the 2023 Appropriate Toll.