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There have been calls to end Dublin’s “outdated” clamping system, and a move to introduce a more modern method of parking control.
Aontú has called for an end to municipal clamping, saying Dublin is the only capital city in Europe that still uses an “outdated system from the last century.”
Leader Peadar Tóibín has written to Dublin City Council to ask it to cut the clamps from the capital, asking DCC chief executive Richard Shakespare to ask that the council end clamping. Dublin, he says, is the only major city in Europe still left using the “punitive” measure.
If your car is clamped in Dublin, you must pay a release fee of €125.
“If and when the transfer of the contract is confirmed, we will engage constructively with the successful tenderer to ensure as smooth a transition as possible,” he wrote.
Deputy Tóibín said that Dublin is not only the only city in Ireland where the council clamps vehicles, it’s likely the only remaining capital in Europe still doing it.
He wrote in the letter to DCC: “It’s a scourge for everyone who uses a car in the city; not only residents, but those from around the country who come here for work and pleasure; and for international tourists.
“But clamping is a thing of the past. Dublin is in fact an outlier. It appears to be the last European city where municipal clamping still exists. The sight of these dreaded yellow steel appendages on your vehicle is something from another time.
“In other cities across Europe and beyond, digital fines are issued. This is because clamping is a traffic management solution from the last century. It was arguably of its time around the millennium, when parking tickets existed. But it is now outdated, in a digital world.
“It worsens traffic. It is inefficient, expensive and counter productive. It make sense all round to do away with this archaic and unnecessarily punitive system. Will you rid the city of clampers?”
The Meath West TD made the request as Dublin City Council has not renewed its regular contract with clamping company DSPS. He asked if the new contract will clamp cars, or move to a better system.
It comes as the Dublin Inquirer reported last month that Dublin City Council looked set to decide not to hire the company Dublin Street Parking Services to clamp and tow cars in the city for the next several years – signalling that clamping may be on the way out.
Since 2004, each time the council awarded a new parking enforcement contract – generally for five years, with extensions possible – DSPS has won it, the paper reported.
But on 1 May DSPS operations manager Darren Harris advised staff that “we have been advised that we were unsuccessful in our recent tender submission”.
“The DSPS contract is scheduled to expire on 31st July 2026. We have been advised that the successful tenderer is intended to assume responsibility for the service thereafter,” DSPS operations manager Darren Harris wrote.
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