A copy of this was sent to the Irish times, the Tainaiste, and ICTU.
26th July 2008
Madam
It is with noted interest I read the report that the Commission for Energy regulation has sanctioned a 20% increase in gas prices. Your report states the average domestic gas bill is €822 per annum. My annual bill is around €1500 for a small 2 bed roomed home in Dublin, which is home to just 2 people which mean an increase of around €300 or twice the reported figures. We use gas for heating and cooking. We are an average couple, both working day time jobs which means we really should be paying the average €822 per annum. Something tells me there is an element of spin in these figures to report a smaller level of increase on the consumer.
There are a number of significant factors regarding this increase. We bought into natural gas as an economical green alternative to burning fossil fuels. At the current rates we will have to consider returning to the open fire as our source of heating.
Another factor that can not be ignored is how the gas and electricity price increases will fuel the spiral of inflation that will inevitably follow these. The affects of these increases on people will affect the ability of the social partners to strike a deal as the rate of pay increases required to cover these increases will invariably have to be factored into any possible agreement. These will be resisted by employers and in turn it will almost inevitably be rejected by the trade unions memberships, and a free for all wage bargaining will ensue, and then the employers will really have something to worry about. IBEC et al should condemn these increases and put pressure on the energy companies to refrain from these increases. These energy companies are large enough to weather a reduction in incomes at least in the short term, and they should do so, not hide behind the cloak of the regulator as though once the increase is granted they have to increase prices, they don’t and they should not increase their prices, (in the national interest of course).
There is another factor which intrigues me, and it’s the role of the Commission of Energy Regulation. In my naivety I believed the regulatory processes existed to protect the interests of consumers. These actions clearly demonstrate the interests of the consumer are being completely ignored, and the regulations are only serving the interests of big business.
The issue of industry regulation must be overhauled completely to reflect the consumer’s interest.
Regards etc
John Fitzpatrick
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Letter to the National Roads Authority sent 16th July 2008.
Dear Sir / Madam
As the removal of the M50 toll plaza draws nearer I decided to research the options available to me. I have no intention of allowing any private company to have access to my bank or credit card details. I then discovered that there is a way to pay the 3 euro toll before 8pm the next day, however there is no explanation as to how or where this fee can be paid. In reality the companies' etrip and eflow, do not have any mechanism available to me that does not result in a penalty being applied. If they can not facilitate an easy payment method, then they should not be permitted to apply any kind of penalty, until they have this facility available.
Can you tell me how I can avoid these penalties as I do not want to break any laws, and I do not like being put in a position where a private company can accuse me of doing something illegal and then I have to prove my innocence which in this case will be almost impossible?
The new scenario is supposed to be barrier free, but the etrip website advises;
"Should your tag fail to read you will be asked to pay by other means, such as cash or credit card
To minimise the chances of your tag not reading:
1. Approach the toll barrier more slowly and cautiously than normal, to ensure your tag is read and charged correctly and accurately.
2. Make sure your tag has the proper holder and is mounted correctly inside your vehicle. - this is very important
3. Do not wave your tag when approaching the plazas "
Below is the link for the webpage:
http://www.etrip.ie/faqs.php#Anchor-What-52
Will there be barriers or not?
If I leave the m50 and re-enter it again, does that count as two trips or one?
If I use the m50 more than once on any given day do I pay every time I enter the m50?
Can you also tell me how, I, as a taxi driver, can charge my customers for using this facility when it will not be obvious to them, that we have passed through a pay to use public facility?
Regards
John Fitzpatrick
Below is the repsonse from the NRA, and quite prompt it was too. I wish the rest of official Ireland was as efficient. THe info supplied by Mr Kennedy of the NRA seems to unequivocally say we will still only pay to use the bridge. The technology to be employed however, I believe is somewhat suspicious, not that Mr Kennedy or the NRA is responsible for that, they are not, it,s the companies supplying the services that will be responsible for it working or not working as the c ase may be. Anyway the NRA seems to have it all in hand.
THank you Mr Kennedy.
Dear Mr. Fitzpatrick,
Thank you for your email. You raised a number of questions which I have responded to below.
Barrier-free tolling is planned to commence on 30th August 2008, Barrier-free tolling will see the existing barrier operated West-Link facility being replaced with an electronic toll collection system. The electronic toll collection system will comprise:
overhead gantries which will span each side of the motorway (i.e. 2 gantries for each direction of traffic; first gantry detects the vehicle and the second reads the vehicle)
Beacons along the gantry which will capture each vehicle which has an electronic tag (on board unit – OBU) attached
Cameras (video imaging technology) along the gantry which will read the number plate of each vehicle passing under the gantry
Central operating system, held in a different location, which accumulates and processes all of the transactions captured by the cameras and beacons described above
As such there will be no barriers at the M50 toll location on the commencement of barrier-free tolling. Also the barrier-free tolling arrangements only apply to the existing "West-Link" section and not to any other "On / Off" M50 interchange movements or any other location on the M50.
There will be significant roadside signage information identifying the tolled section of the motorway which will assist you as a taxi-driver in notifying your customers that a toll is being incurred as they are travelling on the barrier-free toll section of the M50.
On the matter of the eTrip website FAQ response you highlighted, this response relates to the question : What happens if my tag doesn’t read at a plaza?
As above the M50 West-Link section is being converted to barrier-free tolling i.e. no toll plaza but all other toll facilities, East-Link, Dublin Port Tunnel, M1 Drogheda, M4/M6 Kilcock-Kinnegad and M8 Rathcormac/Fermoy will continue as plaza based operations. Any one of the approved tags (see below) will operate at any of the toll facilities and the advice eTrip provided still stands.
M50 Barrier-Free Toll Payment Options
The NRA has recently launched a new website www.tagcompare.ie which details all tag suppliers and the tag account options available. The lowest toll is available through the tag based payment.
In respect of your identified preference (i.e no bank account or credit/debit card account disclosure), both eTrip (http://www.etrip.ie/index.php) and TollTag (https://bookings.parkmagic.net/tolltag/) facilitate tag options that meet with your particular requirements. Please note that while eTrip is an existing authorised tag provider, TollTag is currently concluding arrangements with the NRA to be an authorised tag provider.
In relation to the eTrip tag it will shortly be possible to acquire a tag at certain retail outlets and to "top-up" the tag through a cash payment at nominated car parks principally located in the Dublin area. eTrip will be confirming these arrangements in the near future and their website will be updated to reflect the additional offerings.
Tolltag, once approved, is proposing to roll out a retail based offering also and further details will be provided by the company over the coming weeks.
For motorists who choose not to have electronic tag accounts on either an account or cash basis and who do not wish to avail of the number plate (video) account options they can use the tolled section of the M50 as an unregistered user. For unregistered users the vehicle plate number will be recorded when they make a journey along the tolled section of the M50. The motorist can make payment on the day of the journey or up to 8.00pm on the day after the journey by any of the following means:
On-line over the internet;
Through the 24 hour telephone contact centre being set up by the NRA, or
Through a bill pay system in over 1000 shops and garages nationwide.
In the first two cases this would necessitate providing bank account or credit/debit card account details. In the last case it will be possible to make cash payments at retail stores. This cash payment option is catered for by Payzone and a listing of the stores providing the service is available from the Payzone website www.payzone.ie
I trust the above addresses the issues raised in your email. If you have further questions please contact me.
Kind regards,
Michael
______________
Michael Kennedy
National Roads Authority
St. Martin's House
Waterloo Road
Dublin 4
Phone: 00353 (0)1 660 2511
Fax: 00353 (0)1 668 0009
E-mail: mkennedy@nra.ie
www.nra.ie
As the removal of the M50 toll plaza draws nearer I decided to research the options available to me. I have no intention of allowing any private company to have access to my bank or credit card details. I then discovered that there is a way to pay the 3 euro toll before 8pm the next day, however there is no explanation as to how or where this fee can be paid. In reality the companies' etrip and eflow, do not have any mechanism available to me that does not result in a penalty being applied. If they can not facilitate an easy payment method, then they should not be permitted to apply any kind of penalty, until they have this facility available.
Can you tell me how I can avoid these penalties as I do not want to break any laws, and I do not like being put in a position where a private company can accuse me of doing something illegal and then I have to prove my innocence which in this case will be almost impossible?
The new scenario is supposed to be barrier free, but the etrip website advises;
"Should your tag fail to read you will be asked to pay by other means, such as cash or credit card
To minimise the chances of your tag not reading:
1. Approach the toll barrier more slowly and cautiously than normal, to ensure your tag is read and charged correctly and accurately.
2. Make sure your tag has the proper holder and is mounted correctly inside your vehicle. - this is very important
3. Do not wave your tag when approaching the plazas "
Below is the link for the webpage:
http://www.etrip.ie/faqs.php#Anchor-What-52
Will there be barriers or not?
If I leave the m50 and re-enter it again, does that count as two trips or one?
If I use the m50 more than once on any given day do I pay every time I enter the m50?
Can you also tell me how, I, as a taxi driver, can charge my customers for using this facility when it will not be obvious to them, that we have passed through a pay to use public facility?
Regards
John Fitzpatrick
Below is the repsonse from the NRA, and quite prompt it was too. I wish the rest of official Ireland was as efficient. THe info supplied by Mr Kennedy of the NRA seems to unequivocally say we will still only pay to use the bridge. The technology to be employed however, I believe is somewhat suspicious, not that Mr Kennedy or the NRA is responsible for that, they are not, it,s the companies supplying the services that will be responsible for it working or not working as the c ase may be. Anyway the NRA seems to have it all in hand.
THank you Mr Kennedy.
Dear Mr. Fitzpatrick,
Thank you for your email. You raised a number of questions which I have responded to below.
Barrier-free tolling is planned to commence on 30th August 2008, Barrier-free tolling will see the existing barrier operated West-Link facility being replaced with an electronic toll collection system. The electronic toll collection system will comprise:
overhead gantries which will span each side of the motorway (i.e. 2 gantries for each direction of traffic; first gantry detects the vehicle and the second reads the vehicle)
Beacons along the gantry which will capture each vehicle which has an electronic tag (on board unit – OBU) attached
Cameras (video imaging technology) along the gantry which will read the number plate of each vehicle passing under the gantry
Central operating system, held in a different location, which accumulates and processes all of the transactions captured by the cameras and beacons described above
As such there will be no barriers at the M50 toll location on the commencement of barrier-free tolling. Also the barrier-free tolling arrangements only apply to the existing "West-Link" section and not to any other "On / Off" M50 interchange movements or any other location on the M50.
There will be significant roadside signage information identifying the tolled section of the motorway which will assist you as a taxi-driver in notifying your customers that a toll is being incurred as they are travelling on the barrier-free toll section of the M50.
On the matter of the eTrip website FAQ response you highlighted, this response relates to the question : What happens if my tag doesn’t read at a plaza?
As above the M50 West-Link section is being converted to barrier-free tolling i.e. no toll plaza but all other toll facilities, East-Link, Dublin Port Tunnel, M1 Drogheda, M4/M6 Kilcock-Kinnegad and M8 Rathcormac/Fermoy will continue as plaza based operations. Any one of the approved tags (see below) will operate at any of the toll facilities and the advice eTrip provided still stands.
M50 Barrier-Free Toll Payment Options
The NRA has recently launched a new website www.tagcompare.ie which details all tag suppliers and the tag account options available. The lowest toll is available through the tag based payment.
In respect of your identified preference (i.e no bank account or credit/debit card account disclosure), both eTrip (http://www.etrip.ie/index.php) and TollTag (https://bookings.parkmagic.net/tolltag/) facilitate tag options that meet with your particular requirements. Please note that while eTrip is an existing authorised tag provider, TollTag is currently concluding arrangements with the NRA to be an authorised tag provider.
In relation to the eTrip tag it will shortly be possible to acquire a tag at certain retail outlets and to "top-up" the tag through a cash payment at nominated car parks principally located in the Dublin area. eTrip will be confirming these arrangements in the near future and their website will be updated to reflect the additional offerings.
Tolltag, once approved, is proposing to roll out a retail based offering also and further details will be provided by the company over the coming weeks.
For motorists who choose not to have electronic tag accounts on either an account or cash basis and who do not wish to avail of the number plate (video) account options they can use the tolled section of the M50 as an unregistered user. For unregistered users the vehicle plate number will be recorded when they make a journey along the tolled section of the M50. The motorist can make payment on the day of the journey or up to 8.00pm on the day after the journey by any of the following means:
On-line over the internet;
Through the 24 hour telephone contact centre being set up by the NRA, or
Through a bill pay system in over 1000 shops and garages nationwide.
In the first two cases this would necessitate providing bank account or credit/debit card account details. In the last case it will be possible to make cash payments at retail stores. This cash payment option is catered for by Payzone and a listing of the stores providing the service is available from the Payzone website www.payzone.ie
I trust the above addresses the issues raised in your email. If you have further questions please contact me.
Kind regards,
Michael
______________
Michael Kennedy
National Roads Authority
St. Martin's House
Waterloo Road
Dublin 4
Phone: 00353 (0)1 660 2511
Fax: 00353 (0)1 668 0009
E-mail: mkennedy@nra.ie
www.nra.ie
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