Employers face being charged to keep car parking spaces for their staff in Dublin city under new proposals from the National Transport Authority (NTA).
The proposal is one of a series of measures the NTA is likely to take to drastically reduce the number of cars that enter the city centre as the State seeks to meet its climate targets.
By 2030, the Government is seeking to reduce transport emissions by 50% and cut the total distance driven in all car journeys by 20%.
The proposal is a part of the dramatic new Greater Dublin Area transport plan that was published earlier this week.
The levy, which was not part of the draft proposal that was published in 2021, says: "It is the intention of the NTA to discourage the use of existing car parking spaces at all workplaces in Dublin city centre, key towns and large metropolitan centres."
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Planned measures include "recommendation of a workplace parking levy and the development of a policy of parking reduction at public sector workplaces".
A workplace parking levy is in operation in Nottingham in the UK, with a Transport for London briefing note saying that around 25,000 car parking spaces are liable for the payment.
The English city has an overall population of around 850,000.
The NTA proposals say that where opportunities for redevelopment arise, the planning process should be used to "reduce parking at centres over time" and encourage the redevelopment of parking spaces for more "productive uses".
A spokesman for the NTA said the proposals would "ultimately be a matter for central government and local authorities", but that it was something that they would support.
The €25bn plan covers a vast array of projects that aims to get people out of their cars and onto public transport.
The move to charge employers for parking spaces is one of a range of possible transport "management" tools.
The NTA said that it would undertake a "detailed assessment" to establish the optimal framework of demand management measures.
These measures are "likely" to include converting general traffic lanes or parking to public transport lanes or cycle lanes - including lanes on the main radial routes approaching urban centres.
Other options could include pedestrianising streets, removing motorised traffic from streets and redesigning junctions to provide greater capacity for cyclists.
The NTA also said that parking restraints, zonal charging, additional tolling or road pricing measures could be introduced to limit traffic in Dublin.
This will be done to ensure "full compliance with the 50% carbon emissions reductions targets" by 2030.
"In line with transport policies and objectives to reduce car dependency and to favour sustainable modes over the private car, and as a means of achieving reductions in carbon emissions, it is the intention to reallocate road space from its current use for general traffic to the exclusive use by walking, cycling and public transport," the strategy document says.
Emer Higgins, a Fine Gael TD based in Dublin, said that public transport projects need to be put in place first before "disincentive" measures such as a workplace parking levy could be introduced. She said: "Right now, I don't think they are workable, until we have all the other targets in the plan met."
She cited schemes such as Bus-Connects and other projects that need to be fully implemented before other demand management measures can be introduced.
"If we are to make it extremely difficult for people to use their cars to get around then we have to make it extremely easy for them not to use their car,' Mr Higgins said.
"So those measures have to come first. There's probably some public cynicism around this. We have heard about projects for so long. We are sick of hearing about the Metro and the Luas to Lucan.
"Until you see the bricks being laid, it's difficult for people to envisage that they actually will happen."
The strategy also sets out a new section called "road space reallocation".
Speaking about the workplace parking levy, Neil McDonnell, the chief executive of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME), said it would be important that any proposals be equitable and take into account "tools of the trade" drivers. This means workers who need their van or car for work would not be subject to the levy.
The NTA proposals also set out that the Luas will be extended eventually to UCD, Belfield.
The document says: "The NTA will assess the requirement to provide additional Metro lines in the GDA [Greater Dublin Area] based on updated forecast demand for travel and on emerging significant changes in land use and spatial policy, including previously considered options to extend Metrolink southwards towards UCD, or along the existing Luas Green Line or towards southwest Dublin."
As well as the new lines to be delivered after 2042, the NTA is also proposing extending the existing Luas lines to Finglas, Lucan, Bray and Poolbeg. These were projects identified for the "medium term", being delivered sometime between 2031 and 2036.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Transport said the transport policy for the Greater Dublin Area as set out in the new strategy is now "adopted policy".
"As set out in the strategy, a demand management scheme for the GDA will be prepared and published by the NTA within two years of the adoption of the strategy," she said.
She also said the NTA would undertake a detailed assessment to establish the optimal framework of demand management measures for the region, which are likely to include "parking restraint measures". The NTA will undertake initial public consultation in relation to demand management proposals this year, she added.
