Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) with five axles or more will be banned from within a cordoned area of the city within weeks, Dublin City Council announced today.
Drivers breaching the cordon, roughly bounded by the canals, will face fines of €800, rising to €1,500 for a second offence.
Only vehicles loading and unloading within the designated area will be exempt from the restrictions, which come into force on Monday, February 19th, from 7am to 7pm daily.
Haulage bosses have to apply for a valid loading permit, which will cost €5 from May 1st, with city-based companies also having to supply a plan to the council showing how they will reduce or eliminate the number of deliveries from large vehicles they get.
Michael Phillips, city engineer and director of traffic, said the restrictions will ensure maximum use of the new Dublin Port Tunnel by heavy goods vehicles and make the city more accessible for pedestrians, cyclists, public transport and other motorists.
"The permit scheme is designed to facilitate the transition to minimal use of deliveries by five axle vehicles within the city cordon," he said.
"The intention is to see a year-on-year reduction in the number of permits issued, as businesses change to out-of-cordon hours' deliveries or to using smaller vehicles to make deliveries."
The Green Party called for a full ban on all HGVs of four axles or more in the city centre as soon as possible.
The ban follows the opening of Dublin Port Tunnel in December, which, it is hoped, will remove thousands of trucks from the city's roads.
The €751-million project is the longest urban motorway tunnel in Europe, and largest ever civil engineering project in Ireland.
Stretching 4.5 kilometres in both directions under the city, it is expected to carry over 6,300 vehicles and buses a day from Dublin Port to the M1 and M50 in six minutes.