There will be a 10 cent increase in tolls for cars, buses, coaches and lighter goods vehicles travelling on the M50 from January 1st that are not registered with a toll service provider.
There is no increase for cars travelling on the M50 that are registered with a toll account.
The Dublin Tunnel (formerly Dublin Port Tunnel) will see an increase of €1 for southbound traffic at peak morning time, meaning it rises from €12 to €13.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) said the toll increase was warranted to preserve capacity for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), which have free travel through the Dublin Tunnel at all times.
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Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien on Thursday called on TII and the tolling companies “not to proceed” with the planned increases.
Mr O’Brien said the proposed rises were “really are far too high”.
He was speaking in the Dáil responding to Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty who called on him to speak to TII, adding that “motorists are being fleeced” and accusing the Government of making life even more difficult for motorists.
Mr O’Brien said “Government don’t set the tolls and you know that” but he agreed that the tolls should not go ahead.
He said he had written to the Minister for Transport in relation to the issue, while acknowledging that he, Eamon Ryan, was not responsible for toll rates.
HGVs travelling on the M50 exceeding 10,000kg with a toll account will see a 10 cent increase, while there will be a 20 cent rise for HGVs that do not have an account.
There will also be a 10 cent increase in tolls for buses, coaches and HGVs on the eight toll roads outside of the greater Dublin region – the M1, M3, M4, M6, M7/M8, N8, N25 Waterford city bypass and the N18 Limerick tunnel. There is no increase for cars on those toll roads, except for the M4 Kilcock to Kinnegad where there is a 10 cent increase. On the M3, for HGVs that do not exceed 3,500kg, the tolls remain unchanged. On the M4 Kilcock to Kinnegad, HGVs exceeding 3,500kg will have a 20 cent increase.
There are 10 toll roads on the national road network. Eight are operated under a public-private partnership (PPP) model and two – the M50 and Dublin Tunnel – are operated directly on behalf of TII. The level of tolls charged on the national road network is regulated through an consumer price index (CPI) inflation adjustment mechanism as set out in the toll bylaws which means tolls can’t go above inflationary impact.
[ Tolls ‘highly likely’ to increase again in 2024 after deferral expiresOpens in new window ]
Following the application of the relevant CPI inflation figure for August 2023 to August 2024 of 1.7 per cent, certain toll rates chargeable across the eight PPP and two TII toll roads on the national road network will increase from January 1st, 2025, TII said on Wednesday.
“The tolling income collected by TII is combined with exchequer funding to pay for TII’s annual protection and renewal of national roads,” it added. “The Board of TII approved these increases in tolls for 2025, for Dublin Tunnel and the M50 and confirmed the contractual agreement to the increase in tolls for the eight PPP Toll schemes.”
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