Fines totalling €93,000 were handed down on Monday to nine motorists for repeatedly failing to pay M50 tolls.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) summonsed them to appear at Dublin District Court, but they did not show up.
Eight faced five sample counts, primarily for non-payment of tolls for trips from February to July 2021. One had four charges.
In their absence, Judge Anthony Halpin imposed fines ranging from €5,000 to €15,000. He noted their track records of unpaid charges and, in the relevant instances, payments made.
Seven of them were drivers of ordinary private cars expected to pay €3.10 every time they incurred a charge, while the others were van owners who were liable for €4 per journey.
One woman fined €15,000 had a history of 341 unpaid passages over 18 months.
Another car owner had a record of 265 trips in 10 months and no payments made.
The court heard the TII sent a van driver 1,200 warning letters about 450 trips that went unpaid. He was also fined €15,000.
The car owner with the lowest fine had a record of 127 passages, but the court heard he had made five payments and was sent 800 letters.
Another motorist’s car used the motorway 102 times between August and December. He paid nothing and received fines totalling €15,000 on Monday.
A van owner with four sample counts had the highest number of unpaid trips in the cases. Judge Halpin fined him €7,000 after noting he paid for 118 out of 844 journeys.
A car owner with a no payments record for 96 trips was fined €5,000.
Prosecuting counsel Thomas Rice BL (instructed by Pierse Fitzgibbon Solicitors) said the TII obtained certificates detailing the registered owners of the vehicles as well as the images of them passing the toll gantry on the M50 on specific dates.
An authorised officer confirmed the details during the hearing, outlining each motorist’s number of passages and payment history.
On top of the fines, vehicle owners were ordered to pay €350 in prosecution costs within six months.
The registered vehicle owner is liable even if they were not driving.