CARS PARKED WITHOUT a valid ticket or permit was the number one clamping offence that Dublin City Council received complaints about since last May.

According to information received under a Freedom of Information request, Dublin City Council recorded 63 complains about clamping on its appeals system from May 2016 – May 2017.

Of those complaints, almost one-third were in relation to vehicles parked without displaying a valid parking permit (21) with a further 11 over no valid Pay & Display ticket.

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Parking on a clearway and on a footpath were the next most popular, with five complaints referring to each of those offences.

The majority of complaints (24) were from offences that happened in the city centre.

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The highest number of complaints were received from offences that took place in Dublin 1 (13) but Dublin 2 wasn’t far behind with 11 complaints.

The next most popular areas for complaints were over offences that occurred in Dublin 6 and Dublin 8 – with 10 complaints each.

Eight of the complaints received by Dublin City Council were in relation to offences in Dublin 4, while seven were in relation to offences in Dublin 7.

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Some 56,000 vehicles were clamped in the Dublin City Council area last year, bringing in over €4.2 million in revenue for the local authority.

Two roads in Dublin 4 – Mespil Road and Waterloo Road – were the most clamped roads with Gardiner Street Lower in Dublin 1 the third most clamped road.

Your submissions 

A maximum clamping fee of €100 came into effect from 1 June this year under the Vehicle Clamping Act 2015.

The average council clamp costs €80 to remove, but private companies had been charging up to €300.

The Act designates the National Transport Authority (NTA) as the statutory regulator for clamping.

The main provisions provided for under the Act are:

• Regulation of clamping and related activities
• Establishment of a two-tier appeals process to hear appeals against clamping or relocation
• Provision of appropriate signage in places where clamping is operated
• Setting of maximum clamp release and vehicle relocation charges
• Establishment of a code of practice
• Provision of necessary enforcement and investigate powers to investigate and prosecute any alleged breaches of regulations made

The NTA has published draft regulations relating to clamping, signage and clamp release charges. It has also invited submissions from members of the public on those draft regulations.

Members of the public can view the proposed regulations here and make submissions.

Transport Minister Shane Ross said that once the submissions have been considered, the National Transport Authority (NTA) will assume all its new responsibilities from 1 October.

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