Toll hikes for motorway, Port Tunnel users from January

The cost of tolls on most of the country's roads are set to rise from 1 January, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has confirmed.

Among the roads to see increases will be the M50, the country's busiest road, and Port Tunnel in Dublin, with all categories of vehicles on the M50 seeing a hike.

The toll for cars and motorbikes using the M50 will increase by 10 cent per trip for motorists who have a tag or video account (to €2.70 for tag accounts and €3.30 for video accounts).

However, motorists using the M50 without any account will see their toll rise by 20c to €4 per trip.

There will also be an increase of 10c for all of the country's Public-Private Partnership (PPP) toll roads - except for the M3 Clonee to Kells toll, which remains unchanged.

The PPP increases cover tolls on the M1, N6, M7/M8, M8, N18-LT, and N25WF.

Goods vehicles will see similar toll increases. Those not exceeding 2,000kg will increase by 10c in the case of registered users with tags or unregistered users, and by 20c for those registered with video accounts.

Tolls for heavier HGVs on the M50 will also increase by 20c or 30c.

Meanwhile, from January, motorists using the Dublin Port Tunnel to drive southbound (towards the city) between the peak hours of 6am and 10am will pay €15 for the toll (a €1 increase) - otherwise toll rates remain unchanged for 2027.

TII has said this increase is aligned with the approach adopted in recent years, and "reflects the increasing volumes of traffic being experienced in the southbound peak period, and the requirement to preserve capacity for heavy goods vehicles accessing Dublin Port".

Of the ten toll roads on the national road network, eight operate under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, while two - the M50 and Port Tunnel - are public toll roads operating on behalf of TII.

The tolls charged are regulated through an inflation adjustment mechanism, according to TII.

In relation to the toll increases, TII noted that the "level of tolls charged on the National Road Network is regulated through an inflation (CPI) adjustment mechanism as set out in the Toll Bye-Laws" and that "following the application of the relevant CPI inflation figure for August 2025 to August 2026 of 3.6%, certain toll rates chargeable across the eight PPP and two TII toll roads on the National Road Network will increase from 1 January 2027".

Income from tolls is used to fund the operation and maintenance of the national roads network.

'It's absolutely crazy' - hauliers representative calls for hikes to be reconsidered

The President of the Irish Road Haulage Assocaiton has described the announcement of an increase in tolls as "another example of price gouging by TII, milking motorists to pay for their inefficiencies again".

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One programme, Ger Hyland said "it is absolutely madness" and called on TII to reconsider the changes.

He said that toll increases will lead to higher supermarket prices, higher inflation and added that "it's just another tax on the hard-pressed motorists".

"It's absolutely crazy," he said.

"If they want what is happening in France to come here, they're certainly going the right way about."

Mr Hyland said that motorists are not going to tolerate this again.

"The price of fuel, the price of everything got to do with transport at the present time: it's another nail in the coffin for a hard pressed transport industry."

He said they are paying over €8, in most cases, every time they go through a toll booth now.

"And they're talking about putting another 30 cents on top of that.

"We've been calling for the last 10 years for express lanes for trucks and toll booths.

"It's not happening. We're still rolling up to a toll booth where we have to stop and restart again.

"That's costing us between a litre and two litres of diesel on top of the cost of tolls to get back up to speed again."