It’s all our own fault. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of motorists are being wrongly charged every day by the new M50 barrier-free tolling system, but the National Roads Authority (NRA) is not to blame. We are.

That’s according to Noel Dempsey, the transport minister. He told the Dail last Wednesday that it would be “grossly unfair to blame the operator for people’s inability to follow the instructions supplied with all tags”.

Noting that one of the companies supplying toll tags is called The Intolligent — it administers Directroute.ie — I have devised an intolligence quotient (IQ) test. Complete the test and find out if you are one of Dempsey’s dopey drivers or if you are just bamboozled by a poorly planned, badly administered tolling system with a ridiculously convoluted array of payment options.

Question 1: Drivers should slow down while driving past the electronic toll tag reader, as many are doing. True or false?

False. That’s the whole point of electronic tolling — drivers don’t have to slow down, so traffic moves more easily, meaning congestion is reduced. Oh dear, maybe Dempsey is right and Irish motorists are a pack of bozos.

Question 2: Tags should be waved out the car window at the electronic tag reader, as some drivers are doing. True or false?

False. Leave your tag mounted on the windscreen at all times. That’s not to say that you can’t wave at the reader as you pass. It’s a lonely old life being a reviled electronic toll tag reader.

Question 3: It’s quite difficult to get through to the M50 call centre in Newry. True or false?

True. Nearly a quarter of the staff left within a week of the call centre opening, some because they couldn’t face any more abusive calls from disgruntled motorists. Consequently, hundreds of calls were “abandoned” by the centre every day “to prevent callers having to hang on too long”. Luckily for the NRA, the drivers are probably too stupid to notice they’ve been cut off. They’re more than likely still hanging on the line, wondering what happened to the nice plinky-plink hold musak.

Question 4: Mary has a pre-paid electronic tag that cost her €35.20, with a minimum deposit of €4.80 and a monthly administration fee of €1.25. As she has a tag, she will pay €2 every time she uses the M50. Pat opts to use the number plate recognition tolling system, which will cost him €2.50 each time. John decides not to register for a tag and will pay €3 in his local newsagent after he uses the M50. Now, if Mary uses the M50 most Wednesdays to go shopping in Blanchardstown, Pat uses the M50 every day but smears muck over his number plates each morning, and John takes the M50 every second Saturday to drop his son in Lucan, who will pay the most annually?

Mary, of course, although Pat will face the biggest bill if the NRA figures out how to get its cameras to read dirty number plates. Mind you, John could end up with the heftiest debt. If he forgets to pay a toll, the eventual penalty could be €146. Earlier this year, the NRA vowed to use an external debt collection agency to pursue outstanding tolls and penalties.

Question 5: How many toll payment options are there?

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