Dublin City Council is set to focus more on towing and fines instead of clamping under its new plan to tackle illegal parking in the city.
The council has agreed a new five-year contract with Apcoa worth €51 million that will see the city split into six zones, with each having its own parking officer assigned during peak hours and its own enforcement plan tailored to that area.
Under the plan clamping will be used less, with the broad approach set to see more fines and more towing. It will also see priority put on public complaints.
According to Dublin City Council, Zones 1-4 will see more focus on complaints.
Dublin City Council’s map showing the zones in its plan to tackle illegal parking in the city
Clamping in these areas of the city’s outskirts may see more clamping.
Zone 5, which encompasses most of the centre, will see more of a focus on the movement of traffic and it is in this area that more towing is expected.
Zone 6, which covers the most central part of the city and sits inside of Zone 5, will operate in a similar fashion but will have its own parking officer who will work on-foot.
Dublin City Council says this will provide a “clearer structure for ensuring a more balanced patrol presence” across the city.
It also says this model will provide a “better response to public complaints” as it include an officer in each zone who is prioritising complaints.
The new contract with Apcoa comes following a deal with Q-Park-owned DSPS which ran for 22 years.
It is set to come into place from 1 November.
The council’s parking enforcement officer Kenneth Murphy said that he expects a “transitioning period” over the coming months, with the new system to be fully in effect by 2027.