I read with great concern yesterday reports to the effect that Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, is concerned that tailbacks of traffic heading to Dublin Port through East Wall and the Dublin Port tunnel are so great that they may force the closure of access to the port for heavy goods vehicles, HGVs. TII is so concerned that it has suggested increasing the peak toll from €13 to €14. The number of cars using the port tunnel is rising so quickly that TII is recommending this increase to deter private car drivers from using it. The volume of such traffic is increasing by more than 8% a year. TII has indicated that this is unsustainable and could undermine the purpose of the tunnel, which is to give HGVs access to the port.

As already stated, TII is recommending an increase in the toll from €13 to €14 in order to discourage overuse of the tunnel by non-commercial vehicles. The toll was increased to €13 in January 2025 from the previous amount of €12. In January 2024, it rose from €10 to €12. The level of the toll has been rising incrementally over the years. The use of cars through the Dublin Port tunnel has also been increasing year on year. The incremental increases to the toll are not reducing car use.

The reason that there is such a heavy volume of cars going through the Dublin Port tunnel is because the population in north County Dublin is increasing. If anything is unsustainable, it is the lack of decent public transport in north County Dublin. A lot of housing is being built there, which is welcome. People need housing, and I do not have a problem with that. However, I do have a problem with commuters from north County Dublin being punished by a State body, namely TII, suggesting an increase in order to deter these people from using the tunnel. People do not want to use their private cars, but they have no other option because the public transport infrastructure in north County Dublin is so underdeveloped. Housing is being built, which, as I said, is welcome, but thought is not being put into what people have to go through on a daily basis in the context of dealing with traffic congestion. No one wants to pay €13 to use the port tunnel. People are not the tunnel just because they want to; they are using it because they have no other option. I am talking about people who live in the towns of Rush, Lusk, Skerries and Balbriggan and in more rural areas such as Balruddery, Ballyboughal, Oldtown and Naul. They have no other option. They do not have good, developed public transport. They have to travel across Dublin to get to work. I call on the Government to intervene in respect of this matter and to speak to TII about it in order to ensure that the workers of north County Dublin are not punished and the toll is not increased.

I invite all my colleagues to the Rush festival, which will be taking place on the August bank holiday weekend. This is a fantastic family event that takes place over three days. The highlight is going to be the Fingal Rush air display, which will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, 2 August. It will be a fantastic weekend. I love it every year. Live Forever, an Oasis tribute band, will play in the pavilion, as will the 80s Generation on the Sunday night.

We will fly over for that with Ryanair.