Up to 80,000 regular users of the M1, M7/M8 tolls, and the N25 Waterford City bypass could face difficulties from the autumn with eFlow toll tags due to be turned off on September 1st.
Motorists could face queues on the key regional motorways unless a dispute between Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), formerly the National Roads Authority, and road builder Celtic Roads Group is resolved.
More than 2 million monthly journeys are made by motorists using the M1 between Dublin and Belfast; the Portlaoise to Cullahill stretch of the M7 Dublin to Limerick road; and the M8 Dublin to Cork routes, as well as the M25.
A number of tags are available from different providers and TII is the clearing house for these, including its own branded eFlow tag. It collects money from all tag holders and distributes it - less a handling charge - to the toll operators.
However, TII says it is in danger of losing money on the service and has negotiated new contracts with most toll operators. The notable exception is the Celtic Roads Group, which objects to the existing agreement being changed.
It is understood that TII currently charges about a half of one percent for collecting the money from motorists and transferring it to Celtic Roads Group. TII is believed to be seeking wants to double that to at least 1 per cent.
TII has warned eFlow users that their tags may no longer work on Celtic Roads Group’s roads from September 1st. It has advised its large commercial and fleet tag holders to switch to other tag providers such as Easytrip, Parkmagic and DirectRoute which are not affected by the dispute.
A spokesman for Transport Infrastructure Ireland said it was expected there would be some initial confusion, but toll operators were obliged to provide a level of service which would mean opening more toll booths if the queues grew.
There are eleven toll roads in Ireland, including toll plazas and the barrier-free M50 toll in Dublin.
eFlow toll plazas unaffected by the dispute the M50 barrier-free Toll; M3 (Clonee - Kells); M4 (Kilcock - Enfield - Kinnegad); N6 (Galway - Ballinasloe); N8 (Rathcormac - Fermoy Bypass); the East-Link Bridge in Dublin; the Dublin Port Tunnel and Limerick Tunnel.
