Kildare motorists to be hit with M7 toll price rise on July 1

Tolls on the M7 are to increase from July 1, the Department of Transport and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has confirmed.

Tolls for cars will increase from €2 to €2.10 on the M7 toll plaza near Mountrath. 

There will be no increase on the Dublin Port Tunnel.

Tolls on the M50 are to increase by 30c for cars without tags, bringing the toll paid to €3.50, while cars with video accounts will see an increase from €2.70 to €2.90.

Cars with tags face a 20c increase to €2.30 and TII pointed out that there has been no increase on motor car tolls on the M50 for registered vehicles with tags for ten years to 1 July 2023.

The TII said that toll revenue is used for motorway maintenance, toll collection and operations, and for the maintenance of the wider national road network.

Kildare North Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said the charges will heap further pressure on motorists and lead to more price rises for consumers.

The TD said: “The timing of these increases could not be worse and will come just weeks after the Government’s phased reintroduction of excise duty on petrol and diesel.

“The M50 in Dublin, as well as eight routes on the national road network operated under a Public Private Partnership (PPI) arrangement, will see toll charges rise from July 1 when a six-month deferment of the increases ends.

“Despite the fact that it is one of the most notorious bottlenecks in the country, toll charges for cars on the M50 will rise by between 20c and 30c per journey, with regular users facing an annual increase of up to €100. There is simply no justification for the scale of these increases on a publicly owned motorway.

She added: “Ordinary people will end up paying twice for these increases, both in terms of higher tolls and through any costs passed on to consumers by logistics or distribution companies.

“In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, these toll increases will play very badly with the public.”