Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 10: To ask the Minister for Transport the contacts he has had with the National Roads Authority on the recent introduction of barrier free tolling on the M50; if he will direct the NRA, under section 41 of the Roads Act 1993, to review the operation of the barrier free tolling system, particularly in relation to the issuing of inaccurate fines and serious resulting problems for commuters and transport companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32510/08]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I have overall responsibility for policy and funding in respect of the national roads. The implementation of any individual road project is a matter for the National Roads Authority under the Roads Acts.

In addition, the statutory power to levy tolls on national roads, make toll by-laws and enter into toll agreements with private investors in respect of national roads is vested in the NRA under Part V of the Roads Act 1993, as amended by the Planning and Development Act 2000 and the Roads Act 2007.

I understand from the NRA that, in common with similar such systems around the world, there have inevitably been some initial difficulties with the M50 system. These include difficulties getting through to the customer service call centre and errors where the wrong person has been billed for a toll.

However, it is important to put these problems into context. The volume of calls to the call centre has far exceeded all predictions and the number of billing errors is less than one half of one per cent of all traffic. The NRA and its toll operator, eFlow, are working hard to put in place measures that will correct these problems.

With the system in operation for only a short period, it is still too early to comment with any degree of certainty on many aspects of its implementation. However, early indications are that overall it is operating successfully. Take-up on the electronic registration system has exceeded expectations and traffic flow has improved significantly on the route, thus making a positive contribution towards the easing of congestion for all road users.

I am assured by the NRA that the initial difficulties are being addressed and that within a matter of weeks the NRA expects these difficulties to have been, if not entirely eliminated — which would be somewhat of a miracle — substantially alleviated. My officials will continue to monitor the situation as we have done since it started operation.

In those circumstances, I do not propose to use my powers under section 41 of the Roads Act 1993 to make a direction to the NRA in this matter.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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The first question I asked was the number of motorists who have been inaccurately charged or fined. Is the Minister saying it is 500 a day? Is that the Minister's information? A report in today's newspapers indicates that approximately 10,000 motorists a day are being inaccurately recorded or pursued for a fine. From the volume of letters and e-mails I get, it appears the situation is chaotic for many motorists. I have an e-mail from an angry motorist who was at home asleep in bed at 6 o'clock when his mother's car was recorded on the M50 and incurred a toll. It is a car he occasionally drives but on that occasion it was parked in the front yard. I have correspondence from many others in the same situation, including somebody who went through with a tag but then got a letter saying he had not paid. He rang the customer care call centre and was told they would get back to him within 48 hours. They did not get back to him. For a significant number of drivers — 200 a day or even 500 a day, which the company is saying to some of the media — that is outrageous.

There is also the ongoing chaos that transport companies and many other firms are having to endure. We hear of companies who have had to put a number of their staff working on problems to do with the M50 toll and nothing else. The cost-benefit of this system would appear to be quite bad for some business in some respects. The barrier should not have been put there in the first place. It should have been lifted, particularly given the dark history of the setting up of the toll.

Has the Minister spoken to Fred Barry and the National Roads Authority about this matter? How many people have been put through such grave inconvenience and are the many horror stories coming to myself and other public representatives and spokespersons not the norm for many people using the system?

Does the Minister understand the sense of injustice people feel that at least 5%, and possibly a much higher number, of the 100,000 users per day will not be able to be fined or charged because they are foreign drivers, due to the difficulty of tracing them? We know that from the penalty points system, where one third of penalty points are issued to foreigners. Is this not a mess and is it not time the Minister called in the NRA representatives and reported in detail to this House on the way the M50 toll is operating?

There is no use hiding behind this nonsense and saying he cannot report on huge elements in a transport portfolio. The same response was given to the last question put by my Fine Gael colleague. It is complete nonsense. The Deputy is the Minister for Transport and he should be able to give us the full details of any major transport development, including this important road for the whole of the central Leinster region.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Hear, hear.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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There is nothing to stop the Deputy, who is a member of the Joint Committee on Transport, from inviting——

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Will the Minister give me a break? The Chairman is Deputy Frank Fahey.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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——in Fred Barry or the NRA. I am sure they would be delighted to come in.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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I have done that.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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To inform the Deputy, 2.8 million journeys have now been transacted through that barrier free tolling system. It has cut half an hour off the southbound journey for motorists, which is a major plus. Approximately 95,000 to 105,000 vehicles per day use the system. A total of 66% of the journeys are by registered vehicles with either a tag or a video account. One third of the journeys in the system are "pay as you go". The read inaccuracy figure is 0.2% according to the NRA. Therefore, it is achieving a read rate of 99.8%.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Is the Minister saying 200 drivers——

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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There is a difficulty in terms of people not having their tags fitted properly or having damaged registration plates and so on. There is also a difficulty where people have not updated their registration numbers on to the eFlow or other systems in place. The NRA has engaged with all the companies and cross-checking is being carried out. Some people's cars have not been updated on the national vehicle and driver file, NVDF, for one reason or another. I know of one instance where a car that was scrapped apparently went through the system because there was a problem with the garage completion certificate.

There are problems. In fairness to the NRA, it made it clear at the outset that there would be teething problems with the system. The initial problems with the call centre caused the public the greatest amount of aggravation. People had to wait for a long time to talk to someone — some people had to hang up and try again — because a substantial number of calls were being received. The call centre was handling approximately 12,000 calls a day. I understand that the response rate has been improved to the extent that 71% of calls are now answered within 20 seconds. Just 2.4% of calls are not answered.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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My colleague, Senator Hannigan, has suggested that the Minister should introduce a regulation whereby a fine of €50 is imposed on the NRA and the relevant tag company every time a mistake of this nature is made. Does the Minister agree that drivers and businesses which are treated badly should be able to avail of some form of recompense? Does he agree that the imposition of a fine of €50 on the NRA in such circumstances would be appropriate?

I understand that the total revenue from the toll is approximately €80 million a year. In that context, does the Minister agree with Mr. Conor Faughnan of the AA that up to one third of that revenue will be used to meet the costs associated with the frenetic activity needed to try to get the tags through? The staff in the back office will have to be paid, for example. Will almost €30 million be spent on running the system? If that is the case, barely €50 million will be left over as a result of the shabby deal that was done with NTR when the toll was bought out.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I do not agree with the proposal to impose a fine of €50 when a mistake is made. In many cases, people are sent letters informing them they owe money because the tag on their car has been fitted incorrectly. It would be grossly unfair to blame the operator for people's inability to follow the instructions which are supplied with all tags. I agree we need to minimise the number of misreads. People can help themselves by ensuring that the information they give the various companies is accurate and up to date. They should ensure that their car number plates are clean and the system is up to date. An appeals system is available and people should use it if necessary. I agree with the Deputy that action is needed in this regard.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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What is the cost of administration?

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I do not have that figure to hand. If the €50 million figure is accurate, I will not turn my nose up at it. In the current climate, I would be delighted to get it.