Motorists are throwing away tens of thousands of euro every year by overpaying road tolls, prompting calls for the “unearned cash” to be donated to charity.
All of our privately-run motorways refuse to disclose how much in excess coins drivers are tossing into baskets every day, but newly-released figures suggest the sums are sizeable.
Dublin Port Tunnel says it amassed €36,000 last year in overpaid cash from motorists using the express barriers without the exact change while Dublin City Council, which operates the East Link crossing, said it took in an extra €14,682.
Social Democrats leader Catherine Murphy said: “The excess tolls collected by motorway operators is not income they have earned.
“While they don’t have a legal obligation to do anything with it, I think a fair way of dealing with it would be to make charitable donations. It could be quite a sizeable fund.”
The Kildare North TD has called on the country’s operators to give the cash to good causes, citing the example of Dublin Bus which gives fare over-payments to charities and community organisations through the Community Spirit Awards.
A spokesman for Dublin Port Tunnel, which has seen its overpaid tolls soar from €20,000 in 2017 to €36,000 last year, said it “obviously proves that time is money for people”.
Conor Faughnan, director of consumer affairs for the AA, said: “If the toll is €2, for example, there will be very little over-payment, but if the toll is €1.90 you’ll get an awful lot of 10c piling up.
“You are generally better off with a toll tag because if you just pay cash on the tolls you are overcharging yourself anyway. There is a preferential rate with a tag.
“If you don’t have a tag because you are only an occasional user, the AA website will tell you what tolls to expect on your journey. It takes 30 seconds to look it up and prepare to have the exact change.”
