Cork Chamber Quashes Toll Concerns

 

PRESS RELEASE

9 May 2012

Chamber Quashes Toll Concerns 

Cork Chamber Chief Executive Conor Healy today quashed concerns that tolling would be introduced on the Jack Lynch Tunnel (JLT) following the National Roads Authority (NRA) advice to Cork City Council that combining the operation and maintenance of the JLT and the Dublin Port Tunnel into a single private contract would bring efficiencies and cost savings. 

Mr. Healy said, “Cork Chamber welcomes any moves by the NRA to introduce cost savings and efficiencies and if privatisation of the JLT delivers this for the taxpayer, it is to be welcomed. The Chamber is not at all concerned that privatisation will lead to tolls in light of the firm announcement made by Minister Varadkar in January that tolls will not be applied to the JLT. Ultimately, the NRA has to take policy direction from the Minister with regards to any such decision and the Chamber is confident that following the intensive lobbying campaign of the Minister and other stakeholders it pursued over 2011, that this is not a reality and based purely on speculation”.

“Clearly should the management of the JLT be outsourced, a consultation with stakeholders regarding timing of maintenance works would need to continue to ensure that trading activities are not adversely impacted”, added Mr. Healy.

“A comprehensive integrated transport survey of the Chamber’s 1000 members, employing 95,000 in the Cork region carried out in 2011, showed that 68,000 drivers would be penalized every day and congestion chaos would ensue throughout Cork City and its suburbs on a daily basis if a toll on the JLT were to be introduced. The cost of the additional congestion and delay was estimated by the Chamber to be in the order of up to 4 times the revenues generated by any JLT toll. Based on this robust evidence based data presented by the Chamber to decision makers, we are assured that the Minister and elected representatives from the Cork region are fully aware of the negative effects such a blunt instrument would result in for the region”, concluded Mr. Healy. 

Ends

For further information please contact:

Conor Healy, Chief Executive, Cork Chamber, tel (021) 4509044/ (087) 9471858 
Alma Murnane, Policy & Research Manager, Cork Chamber, tel (021) 4509044/ (087) 7972839