Gordon Deegan
The Dublin sheriff has seized 70 vehicles this year from motorists who have racked up large bills concerning the non-payment on M50 tolls.
The 70 vehicles seized for the first six months of this year represents a sharp increase on the seizure rate for 2020 when 44 cars were seized. Forty vehicles were seized by the sheriff in 2018.
The cars seized by the Dublin sheriff often include high-end luxury cars.
Over the past number of years, examples of models seized by the Dublin Sheriff from repeat M50 toll dodgers include Mercedes-Benz E Series, Audi A5, Audi A3 and BMW.
The sheriff has also seized the likes of Volkswagen Passat, Nissan Qashqai, Ford Transit Van, Ford Focus, Toyota Avensis, Renault Kadjar, Volkswagen Transporter and Chrysler Delta.
Outstanding tolls
A spokesman for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) said on Friday that the outstanding M50 bills where the sheriff seized vehicles for the first six months of this year range from €5,000 to €15,000.
Those bills have to be paid off before motorists can reclaim their cars from the sheriff.
The TII spokesman said: “The seizing of cars is the final act in a series of opportunities for people to rectify the situation, but when a judgement is made that is it.
He said: “Enforcement is about fairness for the 97.3% of the people who abide by the rules and there is a process for owners to reclaim cars after agreements on payments are reached.”
He pointed out: "The M50 eflow barrier free tolling enforcement programme is overseen by Pierse Fitzgibbon (PF) Solicitors and emphasise the commitment to fairness on behalf of the 97.3% of road users who pay their toll, making the compliance rate one of the best in the world.
“Unfortunately, there are a minority of cases that are not resolved during the process and end up before a judge. After a ruling a sub-set of those cases require the involvement of the sheriff.”
M50 tolling revenue
Toll charges for the M50 range from €2.10 to €6.40 and a toll firm manages the tolled route for TII.
Last year, M50 tolling revenue decreased sharply to €121.6 million due to Covid-19 and in a letter to Social Democrat co-leader, Catherine Murphy TD, TII’s Head of Regulatory and Administration, Michael Kennedy revealed that bad debts from M50 tolls last year totalled €3.4 million and this followed bad debts of €3.9 million in 2019.
Mr Kennedy stated that Pierse Fitzgibbon costs total €3.2 million and this followed Pierse Fitzgibbon costs of €3.3 million.
The TII spokesman stated: “The writing-off of some toll income is a small percentage of the overall toll revenue."
Mr Kennedy stated that the total collections between tolls and penalties received from enforcement service providers in 2020 in relation to the M50 was €4 million.
