I'd like to say it's a surprise, but to be honest it isn't really. Apparently Nostradamus predicted it and so did Russell Grant.

What am I talking about you ask? Why the M50 toll of course, or more specifically the fact that the new barrier-free tolling system on our busiest bypass isn't working properly. It was always thus in Ireland and we haven't seen anything recently to make us think it will be any better in the future.

I have written about the M50 in this column before and suspect that there will be occasion to write about it again in the future. This time my interest has been piqued by stories in the national press suggesting that up to 10,000 motorists-a-day are being incorrectly billed for using the road. In other words being billed even though they weren't on it.

The National Roads Authority (NRA) have strongly denied this however and say that it's only 7,000 a week. ONLY? I may have taken leave of my senses but 7,000 a week! The NRA say that of these only 200 or so a day are being billed when they weren't even on the road, the rest are the result of toll tags being incorrectly placed in cars.

There are a couple of things here that scream at you like a hungry baby. Firstly this thing is plainly totally inefficient, it doesn't (and will never) work properly and secondly we shouldn't have to pay for the privilege of using the bloody thing at all. We've already paid for it three times.

The really annoying thing is that the inconvenience and hassle that this apparently unavoidable error rate will cause to innocent people seems to be ok by the powers that be. Say you're a retired leek farmer form Goleen and you have an old Toyota Corolla parked in the yard. You use it for your weekly trip to Bantry to collect your pension and do a spot of shopping.

All of a sudden you get a bill through the door for €500 for your apparent, constant use of the M50 in the past month, despite the fact your car wouldn't make it past Bandon on a good day. The onus is then on you to sort out the mess, prove you weren't there and what if you don't have an alibi or can't prove it? Even if you win, will they compensate you for the inconvenience?

And then you have to ring a bleedin call centre to state your case. These hell-holes are probably the single worst contribution to humanity of the 20th century, well maybe just behind Stalin. The NRA's centre is creaking and can't cope. People are leaving in droves they say, turnover is high. Clearly they haven't thought this through, of course turnover will be high, the poor staff are dealing with people who have been charged or something they haven't use and then they have to ring THEM to sort it out.

There are 200 of these people joining the irate queue every day according to the NRA. At a conservative estimate then the NRA will need about 2,000 people working in that call centre to deal with the issue effectively and the calls should be free. Of course this happening is about as likely as the toll system working 100 per cent accurately.

With all the administration costs involved I wouldn't be surprised if the penny finally drops and they realise that making the M50 free of charge is probably the best option for everyone. In the meantime if they do send you a bill despite the fact that you were on holiday/in prison/in hospital/dead at the time, keep a list of all the costs incurred and add 15 per cent for inconvenience and then bill the NRA for your troubles.

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