The State has pulled in nearly €2.2 billion in M50 tolls since the Government purchased the West-Link toll bridge in 2008.

New figures released to Newstalk under the Freedom of Information Act show that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) collected a record €212 million in tolls on the Dublin motorway last year.

It marks an 11.5% increase on the €190m collected in 2023.

It means the State, through TII and its predecessor the National Roads Authority (NRA), has pulled in €2.196bn in M50 tolls since 2008 – when it bought out the West-Link toll bridge and introduced the new eFlow tolling system.

M50 toll income has climbed steadily nearly every year since the purchase, rising from a low of €89.5m in 2011 to the record amount collected last year.

The West-Link Toll bridge and the associated motorway was the first part of the M50 to open in 1990.

It was originally a single-span bridge with two lanes in each direction before a second span opened in September 2003.

It was built as part of a PPP (Public Private Partnership) with NTR (National Toll Roads) on the understanding that the company could charge tolls on it for 30 years.

The Government bought out the toll bridge for around €600m in August 2008 and introduced eFlow tolling.

The deal was heavily criticised after it emerged that NTR was set to make around €1.15bn from a bridge it is understood to have built for less than €60m.

Queues of traffic at the West-Link Toll Bridge before the introduction of eFlow tolling, 27-01-2005. Image: RollingNews

The Newstalk Freedom of Information figures show that drivers in Ireland shelled out over €478 million in road tolls last year.

In addition to the €212m collected on the M50, motorists paid a record €32 million in tolls on the Dublin Tunnel – up 18.3% on the €27m collected in 2023.

The figure is nearly 3.5 times the €9.6m the tunnel earned in the first year of its operation in 2007.

Meanwhile, fees collected on the country’s eight other tolled motorways amounted to €234.45m when VAT is included.

An increasing toll

Last year's record M50 income comes after TII introduced two successive toll increases in July 2023 and January 2024.

A further increase was introduced last month, largely targeting vehicles that do not have a tag or video account.

The current price for cars is €2.50 with a tag account, €3.10 for those with a video account and €3.80 for unregistered cars.

Cars with tag accounts have seen prices increase three times since 2008, while those with a video account have seen four price hikes and unregistered cars have now seen five.

TII hiked tolls on the Dublin Tunnel for the first time last year – with cars paying €12 to use the facility at peak times.

A further hike was introduced last month with cars travelling southbound during the morning peak now paying €13 to use the tunnel.

Historical toll charges on the M50 and Dublin Tunnel. Image: TII

Of Ireland's 10 tolled roadways, two are fully State-owned, while eight are operated under PPP contracts, with the State entitled to a share of the income if the level of traffic exceeds a certain threshold.

In all, TII took in a total €257.5m in toll income last year - €212m on the M50, €32m on the Dublin Tunnel and €13.5m in revenue shares it was entitled to under the contracts for the  M1, M4 and M8.

VAT rebate

The €2.2bn the M50 has pulled in over the last 17 years includes a €75m VAT rebate TII received in 2018.

The roads authority found itself in a dispute with Revenue in July 2010 after the tax body ruled that VAT should be charged on both the M50 and Dublin Tunnel.

The body decided against passing the cost on to drivers while it appealed the decision, with the case eventually going before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

The court ruled in the body’s favour in January 2017 leading to it receiving a VAT rebate of €76,257,000 which was recorded in its 2018 annual report.

Main image: Traffic on the M50 motorway. Picture by: Leon Farrell/RollingNews

Additional reporting by Andrew Lowth.