Potential for €10 congestion charge, parking increases of 400% and a 20kmh reduction in speed limits

Everything is so simple in your head, must be a very clear space...

When you start working you'll figure out that a Nurse working in a city centre hospital and working an overnight 12 hour shift shouldn't be punished with extra taxes for wanting to drive his/her own car home and get some sleep.. Maybe when you need a Nurse or hospital worker to look after you and wipe the drool off your chin you'd want them alert and rested...?

I don't think you even understand or believe in what you claim to be arguing about...

Ah Eamon Ryan.. a man representing a party who got less than 7% of the vote - and that's from those who bothered to turn out!

"But, they've all signed up to it" - of course they have, because this is Ireland where we will flog ourselves to be seen on the "right" side of the latest crusade.. climate change, migration/refugees, identity politics, or whatever it is this week. Our cultural "need" for approval and validation especially on the EU or international stage is well documented! Plus we live in a country where serious and far-reaching policy decisions are being made based on f*cking Twitter trends by politicians who spend far too much time on their feeds and less listening to their actual constituents!

As usual though, ideology and fantasy (which Ryan and his ilk live in) always fades when it runs into the hard wall of reality:

Effect - as others have said, we could cut our national emissions to zero tomorrow and it'll make absolutely no difference to the global "climate crisis". So long as the likes of the US, China, Russia and others do what they like, there will be no change, except that the gullible easily led Irish will live like peasants and own nothing if some here had their way.

Cost - We can't provide sufficient public transport for the users of it as it is. If even 20% gave up their cars, what are they supposed to use instead? Let's not forget either the significant tax take from the motorist. Insurance levys, motor tax, fuel duty, and the VAT on all the ancillary or mandated add-ons: service parts, NCT, parking revenues etc etc. With the shift to EVs the first 3 are already impacted. Where do you think the shortfall will come from?

Commuters - most people do not willingly sit in traffic or drive 90 minutes or more each day for fun. They do it because it's the only way to get to where they need to be at a dependable time and thus keep their jobs or go to college etc.

Time - the argument from the lad who isn't even living here that we should make driving more inconvenient/slow/expensive because we can't expect PT to compete is laughable! Is that not why we have all the bus lanes and signal priority at junctions etc? But again, the notion that people should be happy to make a journey taking 2-3 times as long to get to the same destination is just an example of how out of touch some are with the realities. Most people (especially in our increasingly busy and demanding lives) have little enough free time as it is without willingly reducing it still further for no benefit save to those who will get the warm and fuzzies that "we are doing our part!"

I could go on but there's no point. You can't rationally argue with ideologues, and that's what we're dealing with here unfortunately! Thankfully reality will set in soon enough.

But these workers would not be caught by a congestion charge and would have on site parking.

Of course the argument for locating hospitals in the city was that staff live nearby. So that's a bust.

It's a safety issue, a Nurse should be able to park their cars and have free or heavily subsidised rate.. this is why there's not enough nursing staff in our hospitals..they're all off to places like Dubai where it's 76c a litre of petrol... As you pointed out nurses would have a problem paying €12 an hour to pay so where do you expect them to get the €2,300 to rent a place to live in Dublin?

You expect a nurse who's worked overnight for 12 hours+ to hop on an ebike and pedal 30, 40, 50km home?

We're not all car less cyclists you know, just because you can't seem to stand anyone who isn't...

You're not all car less cyclists yet. Once the WEF get their way none of us will have cars, or something.

Ok well let's make exceptions to nurses having to pay congestion charges, but there will be very few of them who drive to work. I know doctors have to pay for parking at hospitals so I'd assume nurses are the same. Me moth's actually taking up a job in St James' next month (she'll be cycling to work from D5), I'll ask her to get the low down on how nurses get to work for my own curiousity.

Bullsh*t. Over the years in Dublin I worked with people in offices in the city centre who drove in from places like Crumlin and Artane. Lots of people drive when they have other options.

I'm an oat milk man, and I haven't had avocado in ages.

It's the total cost of living, the price of everything from transport costs, house ownership/rental and other living costs that's making them leave... It's the plant milk drinking cyclists calling for more taxes on essential workers that i'm sure helps them book their flights to Dubai etc..

"Stuart Kirk, the bank's global head of responsible investing, was reportedly suspended in May after he said in a speech: "There's always some nut job telling me about the end of the world."

Later in the presentation, he said:

"Who cares if Miami is six metres underwater in 100 years?

Amsterdam has been six metres underwater for ages and that's a really nice place."

A toddler who cant bike it into work thats for sure :)

They can't even manage to legalise scooters in two years - something which might actually reduce car usage in towns and cities.