The vandalism of the M50 toll gantry last weekend could cost the State up to €500,000.
On Friday night at about 9.30pm a man climbed on to the gantry over the northbound lanes and smashed cameras and cut cables, damaging the system.
The motorway had to be temporarily shut down on Friday as gardaí negotiated with the man, who subsequently climbed down from the gantry and was arrested.
This meant that the system was only partially operational on Saturday and Sunday, meaning that some video account motorists were not charged for their journey over the weekend.
Enhancing security
The system was operational by Monday morning.
A spokesman for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, which manages the route, said when revenue loss from tolls that were not collected were added to the cost of repairing the damage and enhancing security at the site the total cost was likely to be in the region of €300,000 to €500,000.
A man has been charged in connection with the incident. According to the accused’s social media account, he carried out the actions to highlight an issue he is concerned about.
