Nearly 68 per cent of Irish motorists say they are opposed to the new €200 parking levy planned for Irish cities. The results are based on a poll of more than 1,500 motorists carried out by the AA last month.
“This levy is a very poor idea,” said director of policy Conor Faughnan. “It purports to be a tax designed to discourage people from driving into town so that they choose public transport instead. This is objectionable because so many of us do not have a public transport option, but even if we did this levy is actually likely to have the opposite effect.”
Because the levy is charged annually, the motorist is faced with the choice to either give up the parking space permanently and never have access to it at all, or to pay the annual charge. Those who choose the latter are actually incentivised to use it more often since they will be charged for it whether they use it every day or only use it occasionally.
“A great many motorists who can park at their place of work will only do so irregularly,” said Faughnan. “They may take the bus some days, or get a lift. But if they know they are being charged no matter what they do, the inclination is to get the full value for it. Even judged purely on its effect on Dublin’s traffic this tax will actually do more harm than good.”
