Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has issued a blunt rebuttal against speculation congestion charges would be introduced in the city centre.
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan sparked the rumours after he introduced a new strategy to reduce congestion to Cabinet on Tuesday. The plan aims to free up space on roads by reducing dependency on private cars.
But the Fine Gael leader told the Dail the Government has no plans to introduce congestion charges in cities ad they are not ready for them. He said: "There is no proposal from this Government to introduce congestion charges.
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"Perhaps at some point down the line when the Metro is picking up people in Dublin Airport, when the DART to Dublin 15 and to Kildare is up and running, when Cork metropolitan transport is operating." The latest MetroLink timeline suggests the underground rail service could be operational by 2035.
Mr Varadkar added: "Perhaps in that point in time when all vehicles are electric and there is no taxes coming in from petrol and diesel. Perhaps at that time there is a case for congestion charges.
"Certainly not under this Government and not in the foreseeable future. I am very happy to be very clear on that.
"What the Minister has made very clear is that we are doing a public consultation on how we can achieve what we want to achieve when it comes to emissions. That is to reduce the number of journeys by car by about 20% and reduce emissions by about 50% by the end of the decade."
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