32. THAT IS how many recommendations form part of the strategy called “Moving Together” - released by the government this week, which probably works better than “Moving at all” which is wishful thinking for lots of drivers and commuters wedged in their car or next to the armpit of another Luas passenger.  

For years, we have been told that we need to get out of our cars and start cycling and walking and carpooling. Which of course is a lovely idea apart from cycling being reserved for only the truly kamikaze, the fact that it seems to rain here pretty much every day of the year and that we are way too fond of our own space to consider spending four hours a day with our irritating colleague/neighbour.

Working from home for lots of people works, but data shows that the M50 in Dublin is now busier than it was before Covid. The pandemic itself was the greatest accidental case study on how to relieve traffic congestion and reduce emissions, but it also made us so collectively crazy that we have, the government included, blocked it all out, even the useful bits.

Offices are full, the M50 is full, the Luas, buses and trains are all full too. The TII has thrown its hands up and said there is no more to be done with the M50, but we will keep putting the price up, thank you.  

There is no doubt that we are a country that has become very dependent on our cars. There were 3.2 million licensed vehicles in Ireland in 2025 and that is a whopping 2 million more than in 1985. 1.8 million of that increase are private cars. 71% of journeys in Ireland are by car and 74% of all the kilometres travelled are by private car.

Congestion cost Dublin €336m in 2022 and that figure could reach €1.5bn by 2040. Or around the same amount of money as it would have cost to have built the M50 to a future-proof size in the first place. 

Ireland must reduce its transport emissions significantly, and fast. The Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Act 2021 sets out Ireland’s legally binding emissions-reduction targets, along with a carbon budget programme and sectoral ceilings that are consistent with achieving a 51% reduction in emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050. For the transport sector, this translates to a cut of 50% in transport emissions by 2030. 

So what can we expect to see over the coming few years as the clock ticks louder to have our emissions homework done?

One which we might expect to see is simply charging us (even) more to use our car.

In the section on fiscal measurements, the strategy lists congestion charging among a range of tools that governments can use to manage traffic demand and improve network performance.

If congestion charging were introduced, the strategy says the revenue should be used to fund alternatives to car travel, such as public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure.

Now you might be forgiven for thinking that the around €2 billion per year taken in on Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) and motor tax, or the €1.10 out of every €1.80 of petrol and diesel would be enough to take from the motorist, but there does appear to be an appetite to charge car owners, regardless of whether it’s an EV, hybrid, petrol or diesel for this.

EV sales have taken a major jump in 2026 and on DoneDeal Cars there has been a spike in interest in EV-specific searches. As highlighted by the analysis done by the Parliamentary Budget Office and the Fiscal Advisory Council, some aspects of climate policies (e.g., the transition to EVs) will reduce Exchequer revenues.

As the Tax Strategy Group noted: “The structural shift to lower CO2 emitting vehicles, and in particular any significant take up in Electric Vehicles (EVs), will severely challenge the revenue base from vehicles across fuel excise duties, motor-tax and VRT.”

So it does appear that while a lot of effort has, rightly, been put in to reduce emissions, this has given the government a separate headache. So even though you might have spent significant money to get into a cleaner car, we can expect measures to encourage you to use it a lot less.  

An interesting point made in the document is around so-called “captive car users”. These are people who depend on cars because they have no realistic alternative. Examples include people who live in areas with little or no public transport, have disabilities or mobility issues, need a car for work or shift patterns and make complex journeys such as school runs or caregiver trips.

The report itself, citing CSO travel data, says that 76.4% of people who drive to work say there is no alternative mode of transport available to them, therefore a very large portion of Irish drivers are “captive” to some degree.

The strategy says transport policies must be designed with a “just transition” in mind so that measures to reduce car use do not unfairly penalise people who genuinely need a car.  

But has this not been happening for decades?

We pay more for petrol and diesel than in most countries in the EU. We pay more for our new cars than all except a handful of countries in the EU. We pay significantly more in annual motor tax than most of our neighbours too. The report also says that “one significant obstacle is the deeply ingrained car-centric culture, where there is a perceived convenience and comfort associated with private vehicles over other alternatives’”. 

So let’s just pause a second. It acknowledges that close to 80% of people who drive to work might be captive car users, but also says that maybe it is just down to perception?  

What does appear to be true is that we are all paying for years of bad planning. We are paying in time as we sit in bad traffic and overcrowded public transport. We are paying in taxes, on fuel and in VRT on the cars we had little choice to buy. 

Paddy Comyn is the head of automotive content and communications with DoneDeal Cars. He has been involved in the Irish motor industry for more than 25 years. 

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