Fines of up to €146 have been proposed by the National Roads Authority for car drivers who fail to pay tolls on the M50, when barrier-free tolling comes in next year.
Under a draft toll scheme published by the authority yesterday, the fines rise incrementally over time - likely to be less than one month - to €146, after which they will be passed to a debt collection agency which may add additional collection charges.
When the West-Link toll barriers are removed next August, drivers of cars who are not registered for automatic electronic payment methods will be subjected to a €3 charge when they use the West-Link bridge.
Should this not be paid by 8pm the following day the toll will double to €6.
Where this payment is not received in a period yet to be defined - but likely to be about five working days - an additional charge of €40 becomes payable, bringing private cars, on the cheapest level of toll charges, up to €46. Following this is another period as yet to be defined - but expected to be a further 10 days - after which an additional €100 fee will apply.
This brings the total cost for a car making one journey across the bridge to €146. Pro-rata increases apply to other vehicles which are subject to tolls, up to €152.20 for articulated vehicles.
The roads authority will hand over unpaid accounts to debt collectors who may take court action to obtain a judgment against transgressors.
The authority and the Department of Transport is in discussions with the authorities in Northern Ireland to secure access to the northern register of cars and drivers, in order to pursue drivers in the courts there.
The authority, which is buying out the current operator of the West-Link for about €600 million, expects to collect €80 million a year in tolls at 2008 prices. Running costs of the barrier-free tolling system are expected to be about €25 million a year.
Under the proposed scheme there would be just one toll point between the current West-Link bridge and the N3 Blanchardstown junction.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/8a09a42a-bf7b-491e-848d-432f8309b3fa.png)