The coalition looks set to face a bump in the road as a potential row brews over increases to road tolls.

While the issue was discussed by the coalition leaders on Monday evening, the meeting did not reach agreement and the issue will be examined further.

While Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has called for the changes to be reduced or deferred, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan indicated that he would not be in favour of deferring increases if it affected other projects.

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Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) announced last week that it would increase road tolls by between 10c and 30c. Most tolls, with the exception of Dublin’s Port Tunnel, will be affected.

Speaking on Sunday, Mr Varadkar said that he was “not happy” that prices would increase and said that the Government must “see if it’s possible to either reduce the increase or defer it for a period of time”.

However, speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland on Monday, Minister Ryan appeared to dismiss the calls to delay the increases.

“Most of the tolling operators are independent, they're not owned or directed by the Government,” he said.

“They have the right to see an index linking.

“If we did [defer] we would have to compensate the private companies because they are entitled to it.

“I will sit down [and] talk to [the Taoiseach and Tánaiste] and look at what the mechanisms there might be.”

When asked if he would defer or reduce the charges, Mr Ryan said “not if it means we have to reduce our spending on public transport or vital road maintenance”.

One Government source said that if Minister Ryan was to intervene to delay or defer the toll increases, it could affect the Department of Transport’s budget.

“If we were to subsidise, the money would have to be found somewhere else.

“You’d be taking from public funding to pay a subsidy to a private company.”

The issue would be discussed by the coalition leaders at their weekly meeting on Monday evening.

Several senior Government sources said that there had been “no decision” made and that Minister Ryan will now “look” at the issue.

One Minister attempted to downplay Mr Ryan’s comments on Morning Ireland, saying they believed he “seemed open to doing something”.

They also pointed out that Minister Ryan’s comments pointed at him not wanting the money to come out of the transport budget.

“It doesn’t mean ‘don’t do anything’,” they said.

At the Fine Gael Ard Fheis, Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton suggested that extending excise cuts on petrol and diesel beyond February could be considered to negate toll rises.

However, one senior source said that there were currently “no plans" to do this.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin would not be drawn on whether he was in favour of delaying the toll increases.

“Suffice to say that we are in the middle of a cost of living crisis,” he said.

“The whole emphasis to date has been trying to reduce costs of public services.

“There are issues obviously that Eamon has highlighted in terms of the independent nature of TII, but we will see what we can do to try and ease pressure on people.”

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