Vol. 550 No. 4
501 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his policy following the recently published report of the British Commission on Integrated Transport which recommends using the global positioning satellite system as a basis for road pricing to reduce congestion, instead of opting for hard road tolls as is the current policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9446/02]
I am aware of the recent report – Paying for Road Use – by the UK Commission for Integrated Transport. Its contents will be of interest to relevant Irish Government Departments and transport authorities in the context of designing longer term policies for transport management.
The mechanism of distance charging outlined in the Commission's report is described as requiring a long lead in time and as depending on the prior delivery of significant public transport improvements and the roll out of dependable new technology on the scale required.
In these circumstances, the UK Commission's proposals do not appear to offer an early viable alternative to existing or currently planned road tolling in Ireland and no case to this effect has been made to my Department by the National Roads Authority.
