An increase in cost of tolls and the likelihood of them increasing further is being described as 'outrageous' by one County Cavan Councillor.
Cllr Sarah O'Reilly says the Government is hiking up tolls during the most serious Cost of Living crisis in living memory and is involved in the 'highway robbery' of people who are struggling to get to work.
It follows the announcement that the government has given the go ahead for an increase in the cost of tolls last Saturday with Transport Infrastructure Ireland saying that Motorists are "highly likely" to suffer another cost of toll increase within six months
The local Aontú Councillor says someone traveling to work from Cavan can pass six tolls in a return journey, all having increased toll charges, she added that many people in such a situation spend up to €2,000 on tolls in the year.
Speaking to Northern Sound Cllr O'Reilly says the M50 Toll is the busiest road in Ireland and it is in reality a 'cash cow for the government'.
"They don’t have a rail option as there is no rail line into the county. In my town, we don’t have a direct bus option and buses on the direct route are notoriously unreliable and slow”. It is also unacceptable to expect commuters, with no other transport alternatives, to pay huge toll fees to travel from Cavan to Dublin only to sit for hours in traffic jams in Virginia. It is a huge penalty for rural communities to bare".
“But they are doing so without giving people any real alternative. Most people can’t switch fuel sources. Most people can’t leave their car behind. Most people can only suffer the suffocating financial squeeze with the help of maxed out overdrafts, loans or money lenders. I am appealing to the government to give citizens a break by stopping the toll increases and binning the M50 Toll".
