M50 TOLLS:THE COLLECTION of more than €5 million of M50 tolls was in doubt after the first 11 months of barrier-free tolling on the motorway, according to the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
The doubts around the €5.3 million in unpaid charges arose for four reasons: users of the road had insufficient funds (€0.7 million), vehicles from outside the State did not pay (€2.2 million), 700,000 notices have been sent to users on unpaid tolls (€2 million) and anticipated unpaid fees (€0.4 million).
The report notes that an agreement is now in place to pursue motorists from the North who failed to pay tolls. This group makes up the majority of the €2.2 million figure. The report states that the M50 recorded a loss of €2.8 million during its first year under full State ownership.
It generated revenues of €90.3 million in the period examined. Of this, €79.1 million was earned through toll fees and €11.2 million through the collection of fines and penalties in the year to July 2009.
In the same period, the State buyout of the M50 cost €51.3 million, while operating the motorway cost a further €25.5 million and construction and other costs amounted to €16.3 million.
In that period, 32.8 million tolled journeys were taken on the M50, an increase of 3.8 per cent on the previous year.
The report says revenue collected in the post-buyout period was 17 per cent.
“Over €90 million of toll and related income has been received in the 12 months since the buyout resulting in an increase in revenue of €68 million,” the report states.
