Private toll road operators have been paid €92.4 million between 2010 and 2024 as traffic volumes on a number of Irish motorways has not reached expected levels.
Analysis of figures from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) annual reports and the statutory legal filings show that taxpayers paid nearly €74.5 million in traffic guarantee payments for the Limerick Tunnel to M7 PPP scheme since it opened in 2010. Separately €17.9 million has been paid to the operator of the M3 public-private partnership.
“The variable operation payments or ‘traffic level guarantee’ created a competitive bidding process, for which the state benefited, related to these two specific projects (M3 Clonee to Kells and N18 Limerick Tunnel) because they had higher risks associated with them,” TII said in response to questions.
It is understood these guarantee payments were offered as an incentive to the companies seeking to bid on the two projects given their high cost and complexity which led to increased jeopardy for the investors. Provision for these payment have been made by the State body.
RM Block
Other PPP contracts have different compensation mechanisms or receive State payments to subsidise the cost of the construction.
These traffic guarantee payments could rise as high as €200 million over the lifetime of the Limerick Tunnel project. Traffic has not hit the level hoped for when construction began.
These variable payments are made to Directroute (Limerick) Limited, the company that holds the PPP contract, which changed hands six years ago.
The contract was first awarded to a coalition comprised of John Sisk & Son (Holdings Ltd), Roadbridge Ltd, Lagan Construction Ltd and Austrian company Strabag together with Meridiam Infrastructure and AIB.
In 2019, a 50 per cent share in the company was acquired by a Luxembourg-based entity owned by British private equity company 3i Group plc and TIIC, a pan-Europe investment group. 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 last year, with €23.9 million of this coming from toll income. TII paid the business €5.7 million in traffic guarantees in 2024, a decrease from €5.9 million the previous year. It ended the year with a loss of €11.5 million after making loan payments of €23.5 million.
The PPP contract for the M3 from Clonee to Kells, is held by Eurolink Motorway Operations (M3) Ltd. It is majority owned by UK-investment group Semperian, with a minority share held by Spanish infrastructure company Cintra. It recorded pretax profits of €3.4 million in 2024, on revenues of €13.7 million. The level of traffic on the motorway has remained above the minimum level since 2021.
