NEW TRANSPORT MINISTER Leo Varadkar has welcomed a Commercial Court ruling today that M1 tolls will be reduced from midnight tonight.

According to the Commercial Court ruling today, motorists have been overcharged on a section of the motorway since January.

In an action brought by the National Roads Authority (NRA), it was found that Celtic Roads Group should have reduced the toll from €1.90 to €1.80 at the beginning of the year on a stretch of road between Gormanston and Monasterboice. The NRA claimed that motorists were being overcharged €26,000 a week.

The toll is due to fall at midnight tonight after Mr Justice Peter Kelly dismissed claims by Celtic Roads Group that tolls could only rise upward. It is not yet known if the decision will be appealed.

Minister Varadkar said that the NRA will now be writing to operators of three other tolls – on the N25 Waterford City bypass, the M4/M6 Kilcock-Kinnegad, and the M8 Rathcormac-Fermoy roads – to seek reductions in these tolls too.

He said:

I welcome the clear and final resolution this ruling brings to this issue. I also welcome the fact that the operator of the M1 toll has given a commitment that M1 tolls will be reduced from midnight tonight. This is good news for motorists and consumers as well as common sense.

Labour Party TD for Louth, Gerald nash, also welcomed the ruling:

I welcome the fact that hard-pressed motorists will see a reduction in the toll to €1.80 from midnight tonight. The judgment sends a strong message that state agencies will not stand by and allow companies such as CRG to get away with this kind of practice with impunity.