The Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe has ruled out tolling the Jack Lynch tunnel in Cork.
Management of the facility is being outsourced to the same company that currently manages the Dublin Port Tunnel - leading to fears that tolls will be imposed on the Cork tunnel in the same fashion as they are on the tunnel in the capital.
But Mr Donohoe has said he has no plans to impose a toll on the tunnel.
Management of the tunnel has been maintained by the Cork city council since 1999, but Egis Road and Tunnel Operation Ireland will now bear sole responsibility for its management after the NRA awarded it the contract which had previously been given to Cork City Council.
This new arrangement will come into effect from February 20th of 2015.
The NRA plans to combine the management of the tunnel with management of the Dublin Port Tunnel first came to light in 2012.
The contract has been awarded for an initial minimum of 76 months. This may by extended by the NRA to a total of 120 months, according to the Irish Examiner.
Fine Gael TD for Cork South Central, Jerry Buttimer spoke with Newstalk Lunchtime on Tuesday and echoed the minister’s statements. Mr Buttimer told Jonathan Healy, “I have spoken with the minister and I can confirm to you and listeners ... there is no plan to put in place a toll on the Jack Lynch tunnel.”
Mr Buttimer rejected the idea that the tunnel is being privatised and said the new arrangement is about “economies of scale” to the benefit of the taxpayer.
“There is no privatisation of the Jack Lynch tunnel,” he said.
“This new model of managing and operating the tunnel has been in the pipeline for years.
Mr Buttimer said the new arrangement is “about getting value for the tax player ... and the tender was won on open competition.”
Healy was curious as to why there was a need to change management of the tunnel when Cork City Council were already doing an acceptable job. Mr Buttimer said the NRA, in achieving savings for the taxpayer, have bundled the management of the Jack Lynch tunnel with management of the Dublin Port Tunnel and the management falls under the jurisdiction of the NRA as a national route.
"As you know quite well the road falls under the jurisdiction of the National Roads Authority, who are this statutory body charged with operating and maintaining road infrastructure from Cork to Dublin. That is their duty, not Cork City Council. This is a national route, not a local route.
