Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A new toll is being introduced at Dublin Airport for people being dropped off or picked up as part of a sustainability drive and to encourage use of public transport. I think I speak for the majority of Dublin 15 residents when I ask, bemused and bewildered, what public transport? We do not have any public transport to the airport, neither public nor private services. I remind Senators that those travelling from the west via the M4 or anywhere south of the River Liffey are already paying up to €3.20 when they go over the toll bridge at the M50. Those travellers face a double toll for the luxury of being dropped or collected directly at the airport.

This measure will not reduce the number of car journeys to the airport. It simply means the DAA will benefit from an increase in the number of people parking at the terminals and from a penalty for those who do not park there. Given the uncertainty around fuel prices, this is a tone-deaf move on the part of the DAA and Fingal County Council. Not only is there no public transport to the airport now for people in Dublin 15; that is not going to change until at least 2024. I know this because I recently asked for the timings around BusConnects on behalf of people who want sustainable modes of transport to the airport. The proposed new N8 route under BusConnects from Blanchardstown to the airport is not to be included until the later stages because suitable locations for bus terminals in Blanchardstown and Clongriffin have yet to be identified.

What about Lucan village? It is already overwhelmed with traffic and congestion because it is used as a rat run for the M50. How are two tolls going to impact that? Is the M50 toll going to be reviewed? The wider implications of this decision have not been worked through. The toll is not an exercise in sustainability. It is a self-serving exercise in revenue raising by the DAA approved by Fingal County Council. It gives sustainability a bad name. The only thing green going on here is the colour of the money the DAA will get from this new toll, which needs to be scrapped. The people of Dublin West must be given the public transport and connectivity they want and deserve.