Government accused of 'highway robbery'

Most car tolls are increasing by 20 cent per journey.

The government has been accused of “highway robbery” with Irish motorists being hit with a new price hike for using the State’s tolled road network.

Most car tolls are increasing by 20 cent per journey, and heavy good vehicles tolls by 30 to 50 cent.

The Dublin Tunnel toll charge for cars is returning to 2009 levels at peak periods from €10 to €12.

The increase is the second rolled out by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) in less than a year and Aontú's Sarah O'Reilly described the move as highway robbery”.

“This is an outrageous. The Government is hiking up tolls during the most serious Cost of Living crisis in living memory. The government is involved in the highway robbery of citizens who are struggling to get to work,” she said, having similarly lambasted the last rise back in July.

“Commuters are already suffering with increased car prices and increased repair costs due to lack of investment in roads. Commuters are also suffering increased fuel prices when the government hiked up excise on petrol and diesel just three weeks ago and now, they plan to fleece commuters again in September and again in October with further excise increases,” she added.

Cllr O'Reilly estimates the changes could see some hauliers burdened with more than €500 in additional costs per truck over the course of a year, and that this cost will eventually be borne by the consumer.

There are ten toll roads – eight operated under a public-private partnership (PPP) model and two are operated directly on behalf of TII – the M50 and Dublin Tunnel.

TII says it is basing the latest increase on the annual rate of inflation recorded in August- which it put at 6.3 per cent.

“Someone travelling to work from my own county of Cavan can pass six tolls in the return journey, all having increased toll charges. Many people in such a situation spend up to €2,000 on tolls in the year. They don’t have a rail option as there is no rail line into the county,” she said. “It is also unacceptable to expect commuters, with no other transport alternatives, to pay huge toll fees to travel from Cavan to Dublin only to sit for hours in traffic jams in Virginia. It is a huge penalty for rural communities to bare.”