Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for Transport if his Department has increased funding for the National Roads Authority to pay for the introduction of barrier-free tolling; if he has raised concerns with the NRA regarding problems with the introduction of barrier-free tolling; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40251/08]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in respect of the national roads programme element of Transport 21. The implementation of individual national road projects and the allocation of funding to those projects, including barrier-free tolling on the M50, is a matter for the National Roads Authority, NRA, in conjunction with the relevant local authorities, under sections 17 and 19 of the Roads Act 1993. In addition, the statutory power to levy tolls on national roads, to make toll by-laws and to 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 am informed by the NRA that toll revenue from users of the M50 more than covers the introduction and ongoing operational costs of the M50 barrier-free tolling system and also contributes to the funding of the M50 upgrade. The NRA is satisfied that, overall, the new barrier-free tolling system is operating successfully. Take-up on the electronic registration system, which includes electronic tags and licence plate registrations, 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 understand from the NRA that, in common with similar such systems around the world, in the first few weeks of operation there were some initial problems with the M50 system. These included difficulties getting through to the customer service call centre and errors where the wrong person was billed for a toll. In recent weeks, however, the combination of the toll operator devoting more resources to the system and users becoming more familiar with the system has meant the call service centre has improved significantly and the number of billing errors has fallen substantially, with billing errors now comprising less than 0.2% of all traffic. The NRA has assured my officials that the authority and its toll operator, eFlow, will continue to work hard to put in place measures that will progressively improve the operation of the system.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I used the system for the first time last week. As the Minister said, he has no control over the NRA with regard to its funding but there are still up to 4,000 calls each day, down from a maximum of 12,000. Is the Minister satisfied the NRA has put in the necessary resources to ensure it runs smoothly, so that most of its time is not taken up sending out letters at a costly rate to justify the mistakes that have occurred? I accept that it takes time to get the system set up and that it is a good system. However, the Minister should have control in respect of ensuring that it is implemented and that everything is working right from the beginning.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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When problems arose with the operation of the system and when some of the difficulties were highlighted here and in other places, I took the matter up, through the officials in the Department, with the NRA. The NRA admitted there were difficulties but to be fair to the authority, it had made it clear initially that there would be teething problems with the system, and that was the case. There was a particular difficulty with the service call centre due to the volume of calls and, frankly, the many abusive calls in the earlier stage. However, that has been resolved.

There is no place in the world that a system such as this has been rolled out without difficulties. There will be ongoing misidentifications. One will not get 100% accuracy but an inaccuracy rate of 0.2% is quite a good record. According to the information on Toronto's Highway 407, Dubai and the systems in Sydney and Melbourne in Australia there were huge problems at the initiation of the systems but they have been ironed out. I agree with the Deputy that the NRA should continue to give the high level of service and follow-up that is necessary. I will try to ensure it does.

It should be noted that the system has been hugely successful in terms of take-up. In the initial stages it was anticipated that between 40,000 and 60,000 vehicles would be registered. That has been hugely exceeded with approximately 400,000 vehicles registered in advance. That has eased problems.

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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There appears to be a problem with the tag system, with tags working for one toll but not for another. Could the Minister clarify the situation and ensure that the tags work? I am aware that some people were caught in the port tunnel looking for change when they thought the tag system would work. Perhaps the Minister would ask the NRA to clarify the situation. He should also ask the NRA what costings have been made to date to ensure the system is run properly.

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I will raise the difficulty the Deputy mentioned with the NRA for him. Specific difficulties can be taken up directly with the NRA.