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DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL is looking for new clampers – and is inviting tenders for a contract with an estimated total value of €45 million.
The council is seeking a clamping contractor to carry out over 50,000 “successful clamps” each year.
Under the proposals, the clampers will have to pay the council a €150 penalty fee if a vehicle owner successfully appeals the decision to clamp them, as well as refunding them the money. That is an increase from the current fine of €100.
The council calls for a “balanced delivery” of service over five years, with a “close professional working relationship” between it and the contractor.
The successful contractor is required to strictly follow the rules of clamping set out by the council or face financial penalties.
It comes after a previous tender worth €35 million was granted to Park Rite in 2011.
‘Evenly distributed’
In the current tender, Dublin City Council sets out a number of essential requirements that the successful clamping contractor must meet.
This includes maintaining a “high level of compliance with on-street parking restrictions” and “minimising the net cost to DCC of providing the service”.
“The council envisages that the annual number of clamps will be in the region of 55,000 to 57,000 per annum,” it said.
On the need for a close relationship, the council said it is recognised that this is the only way in which the service can be delivered.
The clampers will need to provide routine information on how many calls it receives, its daily activity across the city, statistics on how many cars were parked correctly and legally, and how many clamps it administers.
The areas that the clampers will be required to cover include all the lands under the remit of the city council, broken down by areas such as the city centre, suburban villages, residential areas, bus corridors, cycle lanes and pay-and-display areas.
They will be required to work from 7am till midnight Monday to Friday, 8am to midnight on Saturday and from 10am to midnight on Sundays.
In terms of a “balanced delivery of service”, Dublin City Council said that care must be given to the number of vehicles clamped, the geographic coverage and the times of day it takes action.
The council said: “To avoid an imbalance of service delivery the contractor shall ensure that over the course of each calendar month: that the number of vehicles clamped for pay and display offences does not exceed 55% of the total vehicles clamped, that the percentage of night time (from 5pm onwards) clamps shall be no less than 20% and no more than 30% of vehicles clamped.”
It also requires half of on-street staff to be capable of operating relocation and removal vehicles, as well as asking the contractor to be flexible in how it approaches the job.
“For example, removals are increasingly difficult to manage, not least because of the volume of traffic on Dublin’s roads,” it said.
As a result, the emphasis has shifted towards relocating vehicles rather than taking them back to the pound.
This flexibility will also be required when working around events at Croke Park, the Aviva Stadium and the 3 Arena, the council noted.
Clamping down
In what actually needs to be done when clamping vehicles, the successful contractor will be responsible for the clamping, releasing the clamp immediately if certain criteria apply, dealing with the public, and taking payments for the clamp.
When a clamp is paid for, it must be released within two hours, with a set target of 85% released within one hour.
If the clamp is not removed within this timeframe, the individual will be refunded the charge of removing the clamp, the council said.
When an appeal is granted due to the contractor failing to adhere to the appropriate rules and procedures, it will be required to pay the council €150 each time this happens.
While it is within the rights of clampers to relocate or remove a vehicle, it must not actually enter the vehicle.
It must also handle payment of the fees paid by drivers, and give it to the council.
When it comes to appeals, it set a target of a final decision being given within 21 days in 95% of cases.
According to documents released to TheJournal.ie under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 earlier this year, 228 clamping appeals were made to the National Transport Authority in the first two months after a new law allowed for independent complaints to be made.
Under the new legislation, drivers can also make complaints to the NTA if they are dissatisfied with their treatment by a clamper.
A number of financial penalties can also be incurred, depending on what rules a contractor may break, according to the tender.
Dublin City Council would also transfer assets as part of its clamping contract, including €168,827 worth of vehicles, and over €110,000 worth of IT equipment.
The closing date for receipt of tenders is 8 October.
With reporting from Christina Finn
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“..carry out 50,000 successful clamps a year”
That’s easy – just patrol the cycle lanes and clamp the multitude of cars habitually and illegally parked in them.
@UK Hurling Bloke: Dublin City Council can start with Dublin’s first citizen then,the Lord Mayor …………………..
https://www.irishexaminer.com/…/dublins-lord-mayor-apologises-for-parking-in-cycle-l. first citizen,the Lord Mayor
@UK Hurling Bloke: yeah let’s keep them cycling lanes open for the handful of the thousands of cyclists that use them
@Honeybee: yep well he apologised and there was a successful crowdfunding campaign to buy him a bike. It was presented to him, so let’s hope he uses it
@shane harris: olé olé olé, cliché cliché..
@UK Hurling Bloke: do you pay attention to the times that cycle lanes are open or do you just assume they are 24 hour?
Cycle lanes and bus lanes are only active about 1/3rd of the time and the rest of the time they can be used by motorists. Typically: 7-10am & 12pm-7pm Mon-Sat
@UK Hurling Bloke: That’s the comeback I expected. Typical cyclist head up there arse we are right even when we are wrong attitude
@shane harris: award for the most exaggerated incorrect comment of the year goes to….
@UK Hurling Bloke: And the cars parked in loading bays that the owners are just having coffee or gone shopping
@shane harris: Why all the hate man? Thousands of cyclists use cycle lanes every day. So do hundreds of cars. Get out and have a feel for it yourself. If you begin to hate a certain group and stereotype them it’s just never going to end well.
@shane harris:
And if they were kept clear of cars would you except more cyclists would use them?
@UK Hurling Bloke: Garda station outside Trinity lots of illegally parked cars :o
@shane harris: you sound quite bitter and hateful mate. What’s up?. ( “head up your arse” “ handful of thousands “ wtf are you talking about anyway.
Any valid argument I could make – you would just end up countering by projecting bile from gut.
Because really conflict and hate is all your kind seem to be interested in. All tensed up aren’t ya, yet so boring and backward buddy.
“To avoid an imbalance of service delivery the contractor shall ensure that over the course of each calendar month: that the number of vehicles clamped for pay and display offences does not exceed 55% of the total vehicles clamped, that the percentage of night time (from 5pm onwards) clamps shall be no less than 20% and no more than 30% of vehicles clamped.”
Ok, I know it’s late but I have read the above paragraph several times and can’t make sense of it.
Maybe it’s just me…….
@David McShite: Basically it makes them clamp for a mixture of offences other than not feeding the meter. Parking in loading bays double yellows etc.
I guess without that in there they would just solely focus on the lower hanging fruit of pay and display parking
@Vin: pity they wouldn’t target pay and display on Croke Park match days. Residents in surrounding areas pay for on street parking yet match goers get a free pass to abandon their cars wherever there’s space, even on footpaths.
@David McShite: david .basically they have told the campers to stay away from big gigs like Croke Park .
We want x number of clamps per hour , not all 9 to 5 and not all min to fri . But no major enforcement either
@Nicholas Lynch: Same around East Point area, the offroad cycle lane is used as a Coach Bus park during Croke Park and 3 Arena events… Authorised by the gards
Parking in Dublin is insane I doubt it’ll make much difference we need to get cars off the footpaths especially around schools.
@Bhiniáimin Ó Beith: God forbid the little darlings would have to walk a few meters to the school gate.
@EillieEs: cars on footpaths are a menace for the disabled eg blind , wheelchair users etc.
@EillieEs: we don’t have the luxury of a bus picking us up at our gate.
@John: Luas, train, walk to a bus?
@Bhiniáimin Ó Beith: To be honest we need to get cars off the road period I reckon. The only way to do that is to increase the other options available in my opinion. But a change of attitude is also needed.
@John: It’s called walking.
@EillieEs: That the problem, can’t use some of the paths as selfish people are using them as parking.
DCC need to adopt a radically different traffic management policy, as indeed all cities.
1/ Roadways are for travel, not for storing property, including vehicles, skips, building materials, etc.
2/ Goods & service ,other than emergency responders & police, vehicles & equipment be confined to off peak, nighttime hours.
3/Abolish clamping altogether, which extends obstruction times, & jack up the on spot fines.
4/Impound all & any type of vehicle/ equipment left unattended, except police & emergency responders. IE remove the obstructions.
5/Direct all fines revenues to construct proper drop off/ pick up bays, & continuous cycle tracks/lanes, & the removal of obsolete sign posting & street markings.
@William Kelly: so you want all deliveries done at night? Or before 9am? Ridiculous
@Mark Byrne: Hey if my Blueberry muffin is getting delivered to the coffee shop on the way to work after 9am then it’s too late!!
@Dotty Dunleary: fair point well made!
Big business clamping, it’s all about the numbers,
@Mick Hannigan:
Big inconvenience illegal parking, it’s all about traffic flow and safety.
@Mick Hannigan: If no one parked illegally then there’d be no big business eh?
What does the poor Bas’ard who had to and successfully appeal the clamp get ? They are the ones that have been inconvenienced most !!! They should get the €150 for clampers wasting their time .
I was clamped a few years ago. I parked in what was shown as the hours. Came out and was clamped. I didnt know why and was told that there were 2 signs, 1 for a right turn, 1 for parking hours. Turns out 2 of the signs were broken and what was left was parking sign and the hours when the right turn was permitted.
I thought it was unfair and wanted to appeal but DCC dismissed it. They did thank me for advising of the issue and that they repaired the sign because of my email.
This sounds great but DCC are lazy and will dismiss appeals anyway.
@Stephenkee: I would have taken all that straight to solicitor.
I have a awesome suggestion how to beat the traffic while trying to retrieve a clamp. Get ecargo bikes. You can pick up 150kg+ of clamps within minutes in city centre congestion anywhere. On time. Every time. Hehe.
A successful appeal….. Haha good one!
Fish in a barrel.. Whilst most cars deserve it they clamp cars that makes the issue worse and can’t be moved. Also they need to patrol loading bays and cycle paths more because they don’t.
Drivers should learn the rules of the road
Clamp the Lycra Clad for being annoying
I would cost the person who was wrongly clamped more than it would be worth
Can we get them to come out of the city: Finglas, Cabra, Phibsboro etc
Clamping is an ignorant and thoughtless way to control parking. Incenting private companies to profit from this practice results in bad behaviour and pissed off motorists – whose business and taxes support the livelihoods of thousands of workers in the city and pay for essential services in the country. It should be banned outright.
Clamping is an ignorant and thoughtless way to control parking. Incenting private companies to profit from this practice results in bad behavior and pissed off motorists – whose business and taxes support the livelihoods of thousands of workers in the city and pay for essential services in the country. It should be banned outright.
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