Louth motorists face hike in M1 motorway toll

Motorists in Louth using the M1 motorway are set to be hit with fresh costs from January, following the announcement today by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) of increased toll charges for motorists and hauliers from January 2027.

There are ten toll roads on the National Road Network. Eight, including the M1 motorway, are operated by companies under a “Public Private Partnership” (PPP) model, and two are public toll roads operated on behalf of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), namely M50 Toll and Dublin Port Tunnel.

Certain toll rates chargeable across the eight PPP and two TII toll roads on the National Road Network will increase from 1 January 2027.

On the M1, along with the other PPP toll roads except for the M3 Clonee to Kells, rates for cars and motorcycles will increase by €0.10 cent.

Heavier HGV’s will see increases of €0.20 cent with those HGV’s more than 3,500kg and having 4 axels increasing by €0.30 cent.

Dubin Port Tunnel will see an increase of €1 for southbound (€14 to €15), toward Dublin, at AM peak users Monday to Friday 6AM to 10AM only, otherwise toll rates remain unchanged for 2027.

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

The President of the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), Ger Hyland, has strongly criticised the TII announcement, describing the decision as “tone deaf” given the mounting pressures facing the transport industry.

Mr Hyland said the announcement comes at a particularly difficult time for Ireland’s transport sector, which is facing a perfect storm of rising fuel costs, ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and significant financial pressures.

He warned that transport operators are already struggling to remain viable, with businesses closing on an almost daily basis.

Against this backdrop, the decision by TII to introduce further cost increases demonstrates, he said, a worrying lack of understanding of the challenges currently facing the industry.

Mr Hyland called on Government to intervene and cited the fact that organic traffic volume increases have already significantly bolstered the profits of toll booth operators across the country.

“Our toll booths are profitable and make millions on the backs of motorists and hauliers. On the one hand, government is giving hauliers and ordinary motorists supports to keep their vehicles moving and another branch of government is increasing taxes on motorists and hauliers at a time when most transport operators are one toll away from bankruptcy.”

Mr Hyland added that increased costs for hauliers will lead to further inflation for Irish households: “This toll increase will lead to higher supermarket prices, higher inflation and is just another tax on hard pressed motorists and Irish households. They will now pay more for bread, milk and eggs because we will have to pay more to deliver those items”.

He described the moves by TII as price gouging and said that hard working motorists and hauliers are being asked to pay for the inefficiencies of Transport Infrastructure Ireland.

He said it undermined the concept of giving ordinary workers a tax break in the recent budget when another arm of government simply takes it off them at our toll booths.

Mr Hyland described the fury amongst transport operators at this announcement given everything that is happening in fuel markets: “Transport operators will not stand for this. The Government needs to intervene here and reverse this decision. This toll increase will be another nail in the coffin of Ireland’s haulage industry and will see more operators going under.

“We are seeking an immediate meeting with the Taoiseach to outline hauliers concerns and to ask him to intervene in this dispute"