Ireland’s history with toll roads is long and winding. Our first toll was introduced in 1729, early enough that provision was made to charge users to bring cattle along the route – 10 pence per 20 large animals. More prophetic, perhaps, was the sixpence fee for four-wheel wagons to travel that turnpike road from Dublin city to Kilcullen Bridge in Kildare.
Later came Dublin’s Ha’penny Bridge, in 1816, the toll so ingrained in its history that nobody would recognise the bridge by its original name.
Those operators would likely look on in envy at the revenue being generated by the Republic’s modern toll roads, whose owners saw their revenues rise to more than €476 million last year. The figure, nearly a quarter higher than pre-Covid toll revenues in 2019, amounts to €1.3 million every day.
Tolls are set to increase from January 1st, 2026. Southbound rush-hour traffic using the Dublin Port Tunnel will see an increase of €1 to €14; tagged vehicles on the M50 will see a 10 cent rise, and charges will also rise on the State’s other tolls roads.
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We’ve come a long way from the sixpence charged in 1729. So who is tolling the roads? And who will benefit from these higher prices?
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A maze of legal ties stretching from Ireland to every corner of the globe reveals that Royal BAM Group, the company behind the new national children’s hospital, Japanese investment bank Daiwa and a fund set up by the founder of Ikea are among those taking in the tolls.
These motorway projects were built using public-private partnership (PPP) contracts, with the M50 bridge opening to the public in 1990, and the bulk of the rest following in its wake in the mid-2000s.
There are 10 toll roads in the national road network, eight of which operate under the PPP model. The M50 and Dublin Tunnel (otherwise known as the Port Tunnel) are operated by a private company on behalf of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which is a State agency. The East Link bridge, formally known as the Tom Clarke Bridge, was built via PPP, but the toll was retained after the bridge was handed back to Dublin City Council 10 years ago.
PPP schemes work by private investors financing, operating and maintaining the roads in exchange for tolling the users, or they receive payments to keep it running, usually for 25 to 35 years. After this period, ownership switches to the State.
Conor Faughnan, a transport policy expert and former AA Ireland director of consumer affairs, says the PPP programmes have been transformative for the State’s road networks. However, he opposes the use of tolls as the repayment option for the schemes.
Involving the private sector, he says, has a number of benefits: it provides access to capacity and expertise not commonly available to the public sector, easier access to capital funding, and drives efficiency in the schemes while offsetting the risk of the venture for the State.
But he argues that tolls act as a disincentive for using the roads they operate on, defeating the purpose of the expensively constructed transport infrastructure.
“Consider, for example, the M3,” he says. “The motorway to Cavan has two tolls on it – what do you think is going to happen? Everybody avoids the tolls and then you have congestion on the old primary roads that the motorway was meant to relieve.”
The benefit, Faughnan says, is that it is “a terrific income scheme to securitise”.
“If you go to a bank and say ‘I have a 30-year toll collection contract on a motorway,’ that’s brilliant, it is a licence to print money and [they] will lend to you at a low rate.”
That set-up has attracted large, multinational investment funds. There is no shortage of buyers for the contracts and when they are sold it is for significant sums.
In 2015, the toll road subsidiary of Ferrovial, Cintra, sold 46 per cent and 75 per cent stakes in the M4 and M3 toll roads respectively to Dutch infrastructure fund manager DIF for €61.1 million. Seven years later, DIF sold its stakes in three road concessions, the M3, M4 and M50, to Semperian, an investment fund that owns stakes in 94 PPP funds globally.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII):
TII is a State agency under the Department of Transport. It recorded €257.7 million in toll income in 2024, up from €229 million in 2023, and is by far the biggest toll player in the market.
Under deals in which the State co-funded some PPP developments, TII is also due a revenue share from the M4 Kilcock to Kinnegad, M1 Dundalk Western Bypass and M8 Rathcormac to Fermoy schemes. Revenue from each of these tolls increased year on year in 2024 and is used for general road maintenance and improvements.
M50 motorway – M50 (Concession) Limited
Revenue from the M50 is split. The toll revenue is paid to State-owned TII and makes up the vast majority of its toll income. The M50 toll revenue grew from €190 million in 2023 to €212.1 million in 2024. Of this revenue, €12.5 million was penalty income, up marginally from €12.4 million the previous year. The costs of operating the toll were significant, amounting to €58 million.
The motorway is operated and maintained by M50 (Concession) Limited, which is paid an annual availability payment by TII. It is owned by Semperian and Spanish infrastructure manager Globalvia. It received €9.8 million in operating payments in 2023.
Dublin Port Tunnel – Egis Road and Tunnel Operation Ireland Limited
TII also collects revenue from the Dublin Tunnel, or Port Tunnel as it is known, from which it generated €32 million last year, up from €27 million in 2023. However, costs are considerable, amounting to €27.8 million last year. A subsidiary of French motorway manager Egis Road Operation runs the tunnel, alongside Ireland’s motorway traffic control centre and the Jack Lynch Tunnel in Cork.
The Tom Clarke Bridge (East Link) – The Ringsend Toll Bridge DAC
The Tom Clarke Bridge is no longer a PPP after the term of the concession ended in 2015 and it was handed back to Dublin City Council (DCC). The toll revenue is paid to DCC, and amounted to €16 million in 2024, according to information released under the Freedom of Information Act to 98FM.
The council has not yet filed accounts for its subsidiary, which operates the toll, The Ringsend Toll Bridge DAC. This entity is paid a management fee and also generates income from advertising hoardings around the toll plaza.
M1 Western Bypass – Celtic Roads Group (Dundalk)
The M1 motorway between Gormanston, Co Meath, and Ballymascanlan, Co Louth, is contracted to Celtic Roads Group (Dundalk). As is common across these PPP rights, the company has been bought and sold a number of times since the contract was first awarded.
Companies owned by Semperian Group hold one-third of the shares, with another third held by CVC DIF, the infrastructure management arm of Amsterdam-listed, €200 billion asset manager CVC Capital Partners plc. The final portion of the company is shared by Royal BAM Group, the Dutch construction behemoth that is also building the national children’s hospital, combined with Dutch pension fund PGGM Group.
Revenue on the road reached €38.4 million in 2024, up from €34.5 million in the previous 12 months. The company made a €19.4 million pretax profit, more than €3 million higher than in 2023, making it the most profitable privately held route in the State. The revenue share with TII increased from €3.2 million to nearly €4 million.
The toll route is operated on a contractual basis by a secondary company, Northlink Limited, which itself made a profit of €1 million. It is majority owned by Egis – another recurring name in the sector – with the minority shares held by Semperian Group companies and BAM.
M3 Clonee to Kells – Eurolink Motorway Operations (M3) Ltd
Semperian also owns an 80 per cent share of the M3 operator, with Cintra holding the remaining 20 per cent shareholding. This came as part of the aforementioned €61.1 million deal for significant shares in the M3 and M4 motorways by Cintra to DIF in 2015 and subsequent sale of the shares to Semperian in 2022. The company saw turnover fall from €16 million to €13.7 million in 2024, but pretax profits widened to €3.4 million.
M4/M6 Kilcock to Kinnegad – Eurolink Motorway Operations Ltd
The M4/M6 was to cost a total of €400 million, to be recouped over a 30-year concession. The State provided €170 million of that sum and retains a revenue share that goes to TII.
After changing hands multiple times, it is now 80 per cent owned by Semperian, with Cintra retaining a 20 per cent shareholding in the firm. Cintra’s shareholding contains the Interogo Foundation, a Lichtenstein-based entity set up by the founder of Ikea, Ingvar Kamprad.
Turnover from the toll road increased to €29.1 million last year, up from €27.5 million the previous financial period, which helped the company to record a €7.5 million pretax profit. A further €9.6 million was paid to TII, up from €8.7 million in 2023.
M6 Ballinasloe to Galway – N6 (Concession) Limited
The M6 PPP is owned by Spanish venture capital fund Bestinver Infra FCR – which in turn is owned by Acciona, a Spanish infrastructure and renewable-energy company – alongside Japanese group Daiwa.
Bestinver expanded its shareholding in 2024 when it acquired the 45 per cent stake of fellow-Spanish firm Sacyr for €45 million. While the company recorded a €4.8 million pretax loss after interest payments, it had revenue of nearly €13 million, up from €11.7 million in 2023.
M7 and Limerick Tunnel – Directroute (Limerick) Limited
Like many other PPP contracts in the State, ownership of the PPP contract for the M7 and Limerick Tunnel has changed hands in recent years.
In 2019, Luxembourg-based Munster GP SARL – which has two shareholders: British private equity company 3i Group plc and TIIC, a pan-Europe investment group – acquired a 50 per cent share in the company. One of the original companies awarded the contract, Paris-based environmentally friendly infrastructure investor Meridiam, holds the remaining share.
The company’s income rose to €29.85 million from €27.2 million in 2023. This comprises €23.9 million in toll revenue, alongside a traffic guarantee payment from the State, which stood at €5 million in 2024.
Directroute (Limerick) Limited recorded an operating profit of nearly €12 million but after making interest payments of more than €23.5 million on the loans taken to fund the project, it posted an €11.5 million loss.
M7/M8 Portlaoise bypass – Celtic Roads Group (Portlaoise)
Celtic Roads Group (Portlaoise) changed hands during the financial year. Before December 18th, 2024, ownership was split between Atlas investments plc, a spin-off of NTR plc (formerly National Toll Roads); Grupo ACS, a Spanish construction company; and a third was owned by a combined entity of BAM and pension fund manager PGGM Group. During 2024, BAM and PGGM bought out the other shareholders.
The road remains one of the most valuable toll routes in the Republic, with revenue of €23.2 million, up by 21 per cent on 2019. The company posted an €8.6 million pretax loss but, adjusting for interest paid and depreciation, its net cash flow was €11.86 million.
M8 Fermoy bypass – Directroute (Fermoy) Limited
The contract was originally awarded to a partnership of Austria’s Strabag, US firm Kellogg Brown & Root, Sisk, Lagan and Roadbridge. Now, a 75 per cent share is owned by the same coalition of 3i Group plc and TIIC, which has been behind the Limerick Tunnel since 2019, with the remaining 25 per cent shareholding being held by UK-based Aberdeen Infrastructure Partners LP.
The company made a €7.3 million pretax profit last year, on revenue of €19.35 million – almost all of which came from tolls. The road is less of a revenue earner for TII, however, which netted just €35,000 from the route.
M17/M18 Gort to Tuam – Directroute (Tuam) Holdings Limited
One of the newer schemes, it is held by HICL Infrastructure plc, a large British investment company. The route is “performing to expectations” but rather than its funding being based on traffic volumes, it is funded through indexed “availability payments”, which were marginally lower last year than in 2023. The company made a €10.4 million pretax profit, up from €8.13 million in 2023, and paid a dividend of €5.35 million to its owners.
N25 Waterford Bypass – Celtic Roads Group (Waterford) DAC
The toll on the N25 Waterford Bypass and the Thomas Francis Meagher Bridge was previously owned by a consortium led by Altas Investments, with BAM as a minority shareholder. The company restructured debts in 2021 in an equity-for-debt deal that left a series of banks and the familiar name of CVC as the owners.
The toll company was acquired by a consortium of three investors in 2023 through a Luxembourg-based entity; Swiss pension manager the IST Investment Foundation; Daiwa Securities Group, a Japanese investment bank, and Real Assets Investment Management, UK-based investors.
Turnover was €13.4 million last year, up from €12.3 million in 2023. The company recorded a €3.3 million pretax profit.
