Banners to fly as Tóibín takes on M50 toll

Aontú leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has launched a fresh campaign against planned M50 toll increases, accusing the Government of “milking motorists dry” as charges are set to rise again from January 1st.

The TD said Aontú members will take their protest to the bridges of the M50 in the coming days, hanging banners to highlight what he described as an unfair and unnecessary toll on Ireland’s busiest road.

Calling the M50 “the country’s main artery”, Deputy Tóibín said the road is virtually unavoidable for tens of thousands of workers. Around 160,000 drivers use it daily, he said, many of them already struggling with soaring living costs.

Since 2008, the Government has collected an estimated €2.2 billion in M50 toll revenue — a figure Deputy Tóibín described as “eye-watering”. He said the bridges on the route were originally built for £58 million and that the private company behind the project recouped its costs within just one year of tolling.

The State later bought the bridges for €600 million in 2007, yet motorists are still paying heavily, he said.

Last year alone, road users forked out an estimated €212 million in tolls on the M50. Deputy Tóibín claimed motorists have now paid for the bridges more than 30 times over, branding the toll “a tax on work” and “a tax on commuters”.

“These are people getting up early every morning, already paying through the nose,” he said.

The TD also turned his fire on fuel costs, revealing that an Aontú parliamentary question showed the Government collected a record €4.1 billion in fuel taxes last year. Carbon tax receipts passed €1 billion for the first time, with further increases already built into future budgets. On top of that, motorists pay more than €924 million annually in motor tax.

“And now they want more,” he said.

Deputy Tóibín also highlighted the daily reality for drivers, saying it was “beyond frustrating” that motorists are paying higher tolls while the M50 frequently grinds to a halt.

“For much of the week, it’s a car park,” he said. “People are paying to sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic.”

He called on the Government to halt fuel tax increases, scrap tolls on roads that have already been paid for, and urgently expand public transport capacity.

“The M50 has long since been paid for,” he said. “There is simply no excuse for this rip-off to continue.”