AA lashes road 'stealth taxes'
Irish motorists are being forced to pay 'stealth taxes' on the nation's roads, the Automobile Association claimed today.
The charge was made after the National Roads Authority’s released proposals to make extensive use of road tolls to raise extra revenue.
This situation was described as an "unacceptable extra tax on Irish motorists" by the AA's public affairs manager Conor Faughnan.
Faughnan said that he regarded the use of new tolls on existing roads such as the M50 in Dublin and the Jack Lynch Tunnel in Cork as particularly unwelcome.
He said today: "Direct tolls are an extremely blunt, clumsy and ineffective way of raising money.
"A stealth tax dressed up as something else, they cause traffic congestion and traffic diversion and should be avoided if at all possible," Faughnan added.
The AA also pointed out that the annual tax take from the Irish motorist now runs at over €4bn.
Less than a third of this figure is being spent on developing the primary road infrastructure with the rest being taxation.
