Bad news for motorists: Transport Minister Leo Varadkar may be set to introduce a raft of toll and tax increases to 'encourage' drivers out of their cars and onto public transport according to a report in the Irish Independent.
The proposals are contained within a paper called 'Climate Change Mitigation', which aims to make the transport sector less polluting and reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels. Like most EU nations, Ireland has to meet emissions and renewable energy targets by 2020 and it is these measures that form the basis of the paper.
Transport and agriculture are the main sources of carbon emissions and Mr Varadkar said that while tackling climate change should not result in a reduced standard of living, it would require "changes to the way we live and where we live".
The Department of Transport report says that encouraging people out of their cars and onto public transport could be achieved through the introduction of 'user pays' charges.
"One option for managing travel demand is the application of user pays or polluter pays principles to the transport sector," it says.
"The exact level of emissions savings would depend on the type of measures applied, and the extent of users and road types covered by any such measure."
Some of the 'user pays' measures suggested include additional tolls, higher motor taxes and congestion charging
The report comes as an EU/Eurobarometer survey shows that 50 per cent of Irish people believe that lower public transport costs would encourage them to get out of their cars. As it stands just eight per cent of respondents use public transport on a daily basis with 68 per cent admitting to driving their cars every day - second only to Cyprus.