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NINE MOTORISTS WERE fined a combined €107,000 today for unpaid M50 tolls, including a man who used the motorway more than 550 times.
The defendants did not attend their scheduled Dublin District Court hearings, and Judge Anthony Halpin imposed fines ranging from €5,000 to €19,000 for their absence.
Car owners faced five sample charges for dodging the tolls on Ireland’s busiest motorway from April to June.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), the State agency responsible for road and public transport infrastructure, prosecuted them after sending each driver hundreds of warning letters.
Judge Halpin noted the vehicle types and overall records of outstanding charges, and that the motorists did not turn up to court despite getting summonses.
In each case, he heard evidence of the motorists’ level of engagement with the M50 operators and details of vehicle ownership.
The lowest fine, €5,000, was imposed on a private vehicle owner who paid for 30 out of 325 trips.
The driver with the worst record paid for none of his 559 trips, which cost €3.20 each.
He was fined €19,000.
The court heard motorists received hundreds of warning letters about the charges, and most did not respond to attempts to sort out the payments.
Vehicle owners received lesser penalties when the court heard they paid for some of their charges.
The fines must be paid within six months and the motorists were also ordered to pay €350 in costs.
Prosecuting counsel Thomas Rice (instructed by Pierse Fitzgibbon Solicitors) said the cases against nine defendants could proceed in their absence.
A TII witness confirmed each vehicle’s ownership records, the number of passages, and payment history.
Some had recently stopped being owners of the cars subject to the prosecutions.
However, TII had evidence to show they were the owners at the time of the journeys.
It also had images of all the vehicles passing the toll gantry.
The court can impose fines of up to €5,000 per charge and a six-month sentence.
However, it remains the practice of the motorway authority to pick habitual non-payers to face criminal proceedings.
The standard toll for a private car is now €3.50, which must be paid before 8pm the following day, or there is an added penalty.
Surcharges ratchet up after 56 days, followed by warning letters and court proceedings if it remains unpaid.
Commercial and goods vehicle owners pay higher tolls.
The registered owner is liable in all cases, even if they were not driving.
Five cases were adjourned for drivers to engage with the motorway operators about the money they still owe.
Four others were withdrawn, having resolved their cases.
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Study the fianna Fail liam lawlor connection to the M50 toll contract and how we are paying for the Road for the second time
Regardless of whether you think it is a fair tax or not, these people are arrogant enough to think they are above the law and don’t have to pay like the rest of us. Change the law to allow seizure of their vehicle until fines are paid.
@Davidoff Wossaname: Absolutely NOT going to happen. You’ve forgotten about their rights (Zero responsibilities)
@Davidoff Wossaname: I thought they already could seize a vehicle
@Davidoff Wossaname: the Constitution forbids the seizing of assets with a greater value then the fine.
@Peter: seized in that sense means removed from the road temporarily, the vehicle can be collected at anytime with conditions attached. The OP is suggesting permanent seizure.
If they won’t pay the toll and dont turn up in court I have a feeling they are not going to bother their ar*e to pay the fine either. They will probably be arrested eventually, have the sentence suspended and maybe 10 years from now will have to spend a night in the prison and will be released the next day due to overcrowding. Meanwhile that 19k fine that will never be paid has cost the tax payer 30k in legal costs
@S Os: 100%
Where are these judges when the feral filth are out robbing people?
@Paul: in bed…
@Paul: living in gated communities never experiencing them first hand.
rip off..!
@Bass Boss: register with eflow.ie and it costs pnly 2.50 or 2.60 now after the increase
Another pointless, meaningless fine. We can all hazardous a guess at what’s going to be done about it. Feck all. However, looks good on paper. €107k. why not make it €107M?
€3.20 x 559 =€1,788.80 Peanuts compared to the 19 grand fine! What a plonker in fairness.
@Fred North: not going to pay the fine either I’d say
I worked as a property inspector, at times would go to a property that had been vacated the amount of penalty post. So would have a feeling most of those in this article wont be paying.
What’s chances of them paying the fines?
@James Gorman: deduct from any state benefits being paid or garnishee earnings
Some very odd comments as usual but the best (worst) of the bunch has to be from Paul who seemingly expects judges to be out policing the streets. Some people just make noise without making any sense whatsoever.
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