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The construction of the new Luas Cross City project is set to cost Dublin almost €2 million every year in lost revenue, according to one city councillor.

Independent councillor Nial Ring told this month's meeting of Dublin City Council that the city will lose €1.8m annually because 400 parking spaces have been removed to facilitate the new Luas routes.

Councillor Ring said: "I was always concerned about the number of parking bays that were being taken up by Luas and permanently lost. Eventually after four or five or six questions, I got the figures.

(Image: Gareth Chaney, Collins)

"There was 400 permanent parking spaces lost to Dublin city centre at a cost of €1.8m per annum forever; not just this year or next year".

He also said he has sought compensation for the issue from the National Transport Authority (NTA), but proposed instead that the government subsidise the Bulky Waste Collection for the city's residents.

Councillor Ring said: "Looking at the €1.8m I then looked at what we were losing in the last budget in 2016, and one of the things was the household Bulky Waste Collection, which has been a feature of Dublin life and Dubliners' lives for many years.

"In September I asked how much it actually costs to run the waste collection, and to run it every two years would cost approximately €2m per year, which ties in nicely with the €1.8m a year we're due from the NTA."

(Image: Collins Photo Agency)

While a number of councillors agreed with Ring, Green Party councillor Ciaran Cuffe feels that the removal of parking spaces for alternative transport was a step in the right direction.

He also believes that asking for compensation is unrealistic, adding: "I think it's disingenuous to think that we should be able to conjure money out of the NTA.

"Every understanding councillor in the chamber knows that the NTA is not the Central Bank of Ireland, and that we have to change the way the city works to get more people shopping, working, and relaxing in the city centre.

"Providing copious amounts of car parking is not really the model we should aspire to. It's certainly not the model that progressive European cities like Amsterdam or Copenhagen are aspiring to."

Councillor Cuffe also suggested the lost revenue could be made up by ending free parking for civil servants and politicians, as well as encouraging people to use alternative methods to travel to work.