Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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13. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to sanction the planned new motorway M20 as toll-free; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28395/24]

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The proposal to advance the new road and motorway between the cities of Cork and Limerick is a very positive move and it is good to see headway being made on that. An area of concern is the possibility that this road would be tolled. That is a major concern for people along the way and in both cities. Can the Minister outline the possibility on that? We want to get some assurance that it will not be tolled and will be available to people to freely use.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. The proposed N20 or M20 Cork to Limerick project, consists of a replacement of 80 km of the existing roadway. This project would bypass towns such as Mallow and Charleville. It would also improve the quality of the road network, address safety issues along the existing N20 and allow for improved intercity bus services through increased capacity and more reliable journey times. It would deliver 80 km of active travel infrastructure for communities along the route, promoting walking and cycling.

Just over €4 million was allocated to this project this year and the design team is currently engaged in the design phase of the project. This includes selecting the type of road in addition to the preparation of the preliminary business case as required under the infrastructure guidelines. A project update was published on 27 November 2023, with a refined route corridor reduced from 500 m to 200 m wide. A further project update was provided for the elected representatives in the local authorities on 24 June last. Online presentations, which are open to the public, are now being held, with the next to take place on 10 July.

I can confirm that the project team, in considering various options regarding the delivery of this project, is currently recommending that the scheme should be tolled and progressed as a motorway. However, as the scheme is still progressing through a design and appraisal process, no final decision has been taken. The final scheme and business case will be subject to the Government’s approval at gate 1 in compliance with the infrastructure guidelines. Further statutory approvals and formal processes would then be required to make a tolling scheme.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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New roads with tolls are often associated with public private partnership, where funding had been brought in to build that road. I understand that is not the case with this road, or is it? Can the Minister outline whether it is proposed that it will be a PPP, or why there would be any possibility of a toll on the road?

Second, we see that there would be congestion charges in, for example, city centres. They would be associated with discouraging traffic from entering the place and pushing them over to alternatives. It would seem counterintuitive to spend large sums of money building infrastructure and installing a fee to discourage people and push them away to an alternative road that we currently know is unsafe and dangerous, and there are not any other alternatives available. I want to try to get to understand what the rationale is for any proposed toll.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am in a difficult position-----

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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An Teachta Gould. Gabh mo leithscéal.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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With regard to the announcement that this road could be tolled, or that tolling is being considered - according to what the Minister is outlining here - we have seen other roads that had been tolled, like the M8, and we have seen increases in those tolls even though the money invested originally by the private sector has long been paid back. Multiples of it have been paid back and still they are increasing tolls for people who are using the roads. This is what will happen here.

On the N20, when you get outside of Mallow and go to Charleville and Buttevant, those sections of the road - especially around the mines there - are a death trap and there has been a number of accidents and lives have been lost there. Now we are talking about considering tolling it. We have a duty to the people who use that road to ensure it is a safe road and what we cannot have is people who cannot afford to use the toll using a road that is, as the previous Deputy said, an unsafe road.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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To respond to Deputy Moynihan, I am in a difficult position because this is not decided. There is no final design. No decision has been made on either design or tolling arrangements so any discussion is speculative. From our Department's perspective, there is no final conclusion on either the design or the tolling arrangements. Any proper discussion of this would require further work and analysis rather than just speculation on something that is not decided in any way.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the news that no decision has been made on this and that this is still up for discussion. Will the Minister outline what will inform the decision? What are the key metrics or points that would inform a decision? We want to make sure that this road will not be tolled. At what point will a decision have to be made on the road. It is proposed that it will move on towards planning stages over the next year and infrastructure will have to be designed into it. At what point would a decision have to be made on it? What will inform that decision? We want to make sure that it does not become a tolled road and push people over onto the current unsafe road.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Safety has to be the first concern because what Deputy Gould said is true. There are real safety issues on the current road. The second key issue relates to the towns of Buttevant and Charleville. Going back to what I was saying about other road schemes, we have to make sure that we get our towns cleared of through traffic. Those are the sort of considerations that we would have to take into account. I will be looking for a meeting with TII on this because no information has come to me on its thinking or analysis. I want to sit down with it first to address the design, strategic and every aspect of this project. I will be looking for a meeting with TII to discuss the matters and will come back to the House to report on it.