Dublin Port Tunnel toll operators have pocketed over €90,000 of motorists’ excess coinage at the tunnel toll booths since 2019.
Unless motorists have the right amount at an unmanned toll booth operated by the government’s Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), no change is given back.
Instead, the extra money goes back in the TII’s coffers for what a spokesman described as “tunnel maintenance and other works”.
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There are many ways to pay for a toll nowadays, such as with a contactless debit or credit cards, or with a prepaid toll card, but some people still prefer to use cash.
And it has now emerged in response to a Parliamentary Question (PQ) to Social Democrats’ co-leader, Catherine Murphy, that TII are making a pretty penny from the policy at the Port Tunnel.
The excess coinage collected by the tunnel toll operators came to €44,900 in 2019, €19,500 in 2020, €19,000 last year and €7,600 to the end of March this year.
The numbers have fallen over the last couple of years due to the Covid-19 global pandemic and as a result, there being less motorists on the road.
A spokesman for TII told Ms Murphy: “Dublin Tunnel has a conventional toll plaza and customers who do not have the exact payment amount have the option of using the manned/cashier lanes.
“Dublin Tunnel also operates Automatic Coin Machine lanes which do not provide change in the event of overpayment.
“The reduction in excess coins in recent years can be attributed to a reduction in traffic volumes during the Covid-19 pandemic and the movement away from cash/coin to other methods of payment including Electronic Tag Collection and Contactless Card payments.
“In addition, contactless card readers were installed at the toll plaza on Automatic Coin Machine lanes in May 2020.
“Excess coin amounts are retained by Transport Infrastructure Ireland for expenditure on tunnel maintenance and other works.”
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