John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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821. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if consideration has been given to introducing congestion pricing for private vehicles in part or all of the city centre of Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31250/19]

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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822. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the engagement he has had with stakeholders on introducing congestion pricing in part or all of the city centre of Dublin. [31251/19]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 821 and 822 together.

The recently published Climate Action Plansets out a whole-of-Government approach to climate action and maps a potential pathway to meet Ireland’s 2030 emission reduction commitments. The Planclearly recognises that Ireland must significantly step up its commitments to tackle climate disruption. As the transport sector accounts for a little over one quarter of Ireland’s non-ETS emissions there is no question that it must feature strongly in the national decarbonisation effort.

Cutting congestion is an action which would contribute positively to the decarbonisation effort. Congestion also imposes significant costs on residents, commuters and businesses in urban areas. My Department is already seeking to address congestion and its negative impacts by encouraging modal shift away from private passenger cars towards public and active travel. To this end, a significant investment of €8.6 billion is being made to increase the capacity and attractiveness of sustainable mobility under the National Development Plan 2018-27 as part of Project Ireland 2040.

The potential roles of congestion pricing, low-emission zones and demand management were considered during the development of the Climate Action Plan and consequently, Action 81 calls for the development of a regulatory framework on low emission zones and parking pricing policies, the granting of local authorities with the power to restrict access to certain parts of a city or a town to zero-emission vehicles only, and the examination of the role of demand management measures in Irish cities, including low emission zones and parking pricing policies. My Department has lead responsibility for the implementation of this action. Later this year, and in collaboration with the local authorities and the NTA, we will commission a study to:

- Consider key management drivers in an Irish context (e.g. congestion, air quality, climate considerations);

- Review international best practices on measures such as urban congestion charging, low emission zones and parking pricing policies; and

- Recommend the most appropriate responses for Dublin/Cork/Galway/Limerick taking into account overall transport strategies in each case.

Stakeholder consultation will need to be undertaken as part of this Demand Management study. Implementation of required and most appropriate measures in each case will have regard to existing powers of local authorities, including those reserved to elected members. I will work closely with Minister Murphy and his Department if additional legislation or local authority functions are identified as providing pathways for addressing these problems.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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823. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if the introduction of a ban on HGV vehicles from all or part of the city centre of Dublin during peak hours has been considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31252/19]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997 (S.I. 182 of 1997) give local authorities the power to apply restrictions to heavy goods vehicles from entering particular roads or areas. As it is a matter for each local authority to determine if, and where, such restrictions should apply within its own functional area, I as Minister currently have no direct role in restricting vehicular access to individual roads.

As the Deputy may be aware, however, action 81 of the Climate Action Plan calls for the relevant bodies to "develop a regulatory framework on low emission zones and parking policies, and provide local authorities with the power to restrict access to certain parts of a city or town to zero emission vehicles only". In light of this, my Department will commission a demand management study later this year in order to consider the potential role of demand management measures in Irish cities which can be deployed to address economic congestion, air quality concerns and to reduce climate harmful emissions.

Implementation of the most appropriate measure, or measures, in each case will have regard to existing powers of local authorities, including those reserved to elected members, and my Department will work with Minister Murphy’s Department if additional legislation or functions are necessary.