EMPLOYEE PARKING:THE €200 workplace parking levy to be introduced in five cities is expected to generate income of over €10 million annually.
The levy is being introduced in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford from January. More than 50,000 parking spaces in the private and public sectors are affected.
Exemptions will apply for disabled drivers and the emergency services. Employees who share car parking spaces will be subject to a reduced levy, and concessions will also apply to part-time and shift workers and women on maternity leave.
Employers will have responsibility for collecting the levy through payroll deductions. Fines of up to €3,000 will apply where the levy is not paid.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said the Finance Bill gave him the power to designate which parts of the five cities will have the levy applied.
The degree of public transport available and the level of congestion in particular areas would play a role in determining where the levy would be applied.
He said it was not a universal levy on spaces, but a targeted approach focusing on areas of congestion where parking spaces had value and there were alternative public transport options.
The levy will not be charged to employees who already pay for a space.
In his press conference on the Bill, Mr Lenihan pointed out that he didn't have a personal parking space himself.
Dublin Chamber of Commerce said the parking levy should not be introduced until all the projects in the Transport 21 programme for the city are completed, and commuters have a reasonable alternative level of public transport.
"Many commuters who drive do so because they do not have suitable alternatives. It is for this reason that we are pushing for the promises made under Transport 21 - such as Metro, Interconnector, Luas extensions and bus service improvements - to be delivered," said Gina Quin, chief executive of Dublin Chamber.
"A parking levy being imposed on employees in advance of these things being delivered is simply a tax-raising gimmick," she said.
"At a very minimum, Government should commit to spending all the monies collected under the parking levy scheme in an area on public transport services in that area."
