DAA must provide more transparency about the dramatic rise of car parking charges that has seen costs jump by up to 100 per cent at Dublin Airport in recent weeks, according to a Senator.
Reports have said some passengers have seen parking charges rise by 100 per cent, with a week's parking rising from €49 in 2021 to €104.
Fine Gael Senator Emer Currie said: "Dublin Airport Authority said an increase in demand for parking, a decrease in the supply of parking spaces, the time of year and a new dynamic pricing model are responsible for increases in parking charges recently.
“The airport has flagged that these increases are set to continue, even at off-peak times, due to greater demand.
“I think we need to understand what other factors have led to increases of this scale, piling even more pressure on consumers and whether anything that can be done to address it."
The increases come with taxi prices to increase by 12.5 per cent and new set-down charges for drop-offs at the airport also set to be introduced.
What are people supposed to do?
Ms Currie added: “What are people supposed to do? Without adequate public transport links, consumers are stuck between a rock and a hard place with high fuel prices and a pile-on of charges.
“I am writing to the Chair of the Oireachtas Transport Committee requesting that the Committee immediately take up the matter with Dublin Airport Authority, and seek clarity on their dynamic pricing model and on all the factors that have contributed to this dramatic rise in charges including who controls them."
Senator Currie has also supported an appeal to An Bord Pleanála against the granting of planning permission by Fingal County Council for new road infrastructure at Terminals One and Two for the new paid zone scheme.
She said: “The increase in parking charges also reinforces for me how wrong it would be for DAA to continue with their plan to introduce a set down toll when other options are so limited.
“I reiterate my call to scrap the toll or introduce a condition that states no charges should be introduced until such a time as Dublin Airport is serviced by adequate transport links.
“The deadline for observations is today at 5pm through the An Bord Pleanála website for anyone who wants to make their views known. But I must flag that unfortunately there is a €50 fee involved to do so."
