Plan to allow advance payment for parking

Motorists who like a drink will soon be able to book parking space in advance so they can leave their cars in Dublin city centre without the risk of having them clamped.

The proposed advance payment facility is also designed to benefit hotel guests who park their cars on-street in the city centre overnight.

There have been complaints from some motorists that, having acted responsibly by taking a taxi home, they have returned in the morning to find their cars clamped. Hotels, too, have protested on behalf of guests.

Under the new system, which is expected to be introduced by early July, motorists parking cars on city centre streets will be able to pay in advance, guaranteeing that they remain legally parked until 10 a.m.

Dublin Corporation also intends to introduce an electronic smart card, similar to the phone-card used by Telecom Eireann, for its multi-bay "pay-and-display" to help make paying for parking a cashless transaction.

Mr Neil Cunningham, the corporation's newly-appointed parking enforcement officer, said yesterday that the introduction of wheel-clamping last August had brought the city several benefits.

Higher compliance with the parking laws has more than doubled - to £7 million - the annual revenue to the corporation from parking.

Because of its effectiveness as a deterrent, Mr Cunningham said drivers in the city centre were able to find convenient short-term parking, even on busy streets, "virtually on demand".

He also pointed out that wheel-clamping was supported by Dublin Chamber of Commerce and the City Centre Business Association, with a recent survey showing 86 per cent approval among city businesses.

Illegal parking, which had been chronic in Dublin, is down by 60 per cent.

Mr Con Coll, principal officer in the corporation's traffic division, said the issue of reducing parking charges on Saturdays to encourage more people to come to town was also being examined.

Mr Cunningham said the boost in revenue was "ring-fenced" to fund other traffic management measures, such as the new traffic control centre and its network of high-level cameras, which had cost £8 million.

Though 430 vehicles per week were being clamped and a further 140 towed, he stressed that the corporation's primary objective was to stop illegal parking rather than to penalise motorists.

In its first review of the system, which is being operated by private contractors Control Plus, the corporation said it was costing £3 million a year to run, while the revenue from fines amounted to £2.5 million.

The tough new regime, which included the introduction of a new tow-away service last October, resulted in almost 16,000 illegally parked cars being clamped and a further 3,600 being towed to the pound.

So far, 8 per cent of all wheel-clamping or tow-away cases have been appealed and 1 per cent of fines refunded.

Of 150 cases taken further to an independent appeals officer, 33 (over a fifth) were allowed. These people then had their fines returned.

Mr Cunningham said there was still "huge ignorance among the motoring public" about the parking regulations in Dublin and this had prompted the corporation to produce new information leaflets.

The leaflets, Park Legally: Don't get clamped or towed away, are available in two versions - one in English and another in French, German, Italian and Spanish.