Clamping hot spots: Ormond Quay tops with over 750 vehicles

Clamping in Dublin city brought in about €4.11 million for the city council in 2015, with 54,068 vehicles, or 148 a day, being forced to pay €80 to have their vehicles released.

The capital’s most clamped street was Upper Ormond Quay where 754 vehicles were clamped in 2015.

The figures do not take into account parking on private land where clamp-release fees are more commonly in the order of €125. New laws to regulate the activities of private clampers which include provision to reduce these charges were enacted last year, but have not yet been initiated.

The figure of 148 a day – which relates only to clamping by the city council represents a drop of 5 per cent on 2014.

The city’s central business district and “brass plate” office area continued to feature prominently in the annual clamping figures with Mespil Road beside the Grand Canal in second place with 723 vehicles clamped.

A former clampers’ favourite, Merrion Square West, which features the Leinster Lawn entrance to Leinster House, fell in the rankings to sixth most clamped location, with 581 vehicles immobilised.

The top ten areas for street enforcement in 2015 were:

1 Ormond Quay Upr.

2. Mespil Road

3. Burlington Road

4. Wolf Tone Street

5. Waterloo Road

6. Merrion Square West

7. Molesworth Street

8. Gardiner Street

9. Earlsfort Terrace

10. South Circular Road

The position is not dramatically different from 2014 when the top ten list was:

1. Merrion square West

2. Mespil Road

3. Ormond Quay Upr

4. Pearse Street

5. Waterloo Road

6. Jervis Street

7. Wolfe Tone Street

8. North Lotts

9. Burlington Road

10 Merrion Square South.

Revenue was down in 2015 from €4.24 million in 2014. The revenue is also falling short of a Dublin City Council target for clampers to immobilise 60,000 vehicles a year.

It emerged in March 2014 that the council had instructed clamping company Dublin Street Parking Services (DSPS) to target clamp 60,000 vehicles a year.

The council had told the company it was not happy with the number of cars clamped, according to a letter sent by DSPS management to staff encouraging them to be more pro-active.

The number of vehicles clamped, relocated or towed was 58,575 in 2011, but dropped to 53,525 in 2012 - the annual result which prompted the council letter. Numbers rose to 56,285 in 2013; to 65,601 in 2014 and €57,715.