RIP: Body found in search for missing man (63) as heartbreaking statement is issued
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09 Mar 2026
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09 Mar 2026
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Pictured: Portlaoise toll bridge
Over €300,000 in uncollected change has been left in toll booth collection baskets by motorists this past year.
A recent report from journalist Ken Foxe has revealed that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) toll booths generated €500 million in 2025.
The M7 and the M8 toll bridge Portlaoise and the M3 toll bridge in Kells generated almost €29 million in 2025, with €65,000 in change left behind by passing motorists. Reports state that the total toll revenue on the M8 was €24.7 million.
Celtic Roads Group (CRG) manages the Portlaoise Plaza toll bridge in Laois through a PPP scheme, and appointed MidLink as the Operations and Maintenance Contractor of the toll plaza.
A public-private partnership (PPP scheme) is an arrangement between a public authority and a private partner designed to deliver a public infrastructure project and service under a long-term contract.
CRG funded the Portlaoise Motorway Project, and are compensated in turn by the state and the assets generated by users of the Portlaoise Plaza toll booth, over a 25 to 35 year basis.
Celtic Roads Group is an international association of several companies who came together to bid for road construction projects under the Irish Government’s National Development Plan (NDP) from 2000-2006.
CRG was secured three of the ten PPP roads projects which the National Roads Authority (NRA, now TII) put out to tender, namely the M1 Dundalk Western By-pass, the N25 Waterford City By-Pass and M7/M8 Portlaoise Motorway Project.
Two toll booths at the Portlaoise toll bridge sustained damages following a fire in 2025. The booths have not been replaced, with a card only post erected in the lanes instead.
Photos taken by a concerned Colliers Court resident of the ditch between Colliers Court and the new Dargan Woods in Portlaoise.
Pictured: Portlaoise toll bridge
Death Notices for Laois
(File photo: Pixabay)
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