Clampers flag worries about dodgy tactics
A LITANY of concerns over tactics used by clampers in the capital has been investigated.
Dublin City Council (DCC) is pursuing issues raised in protected disclosures by clamping employees that were made early last year.
The concerns include the alleged clamping of vehicles where there were no or inadequate road markings and a failure to allow sufficient ‘grace time’ before a car was clamped.
It was also claimed an inconsistent approach was taken to enforcement in certain city centre locations and against commercial vehicles.
The protected disclosures were made by two employees of Dublin Street Parking Services, which denied any wrongdoing.
A LITANY of concerns over tactics used by clampers in the capital has been investigated.
Dublin City Council (DCC) is pursuing issues raised in protected disclosures by clamping employees that were made early last year.
The concerns include:
The alleged clamping of vehicles where there were no or inadequate road markings, which as a consequence would mean a parking offence may not have been committed;
An inconsistent approach to parking enforcement was being pursued, with a failure to enforce parking restrictions at certain city centre locations and against a certain category of vehicle (for example, commercial vehicles) to a sufficient extent;
Insufficient ‘grace time’ being afforded before enforcement action is taken;
The recording of vehicles being de-clamped before they were actually de-clamped in order to avoid a delayed de-clamp penalty.
It was alleged that for the last two issues this was facilitated by manually recording times on occasions.
However, with a device introduced in early 2017 to eliminate manual recordings, these allegations were not pursued further.
Another concern was about the operation of an ‘incentive’ scheme for clamping crews to take their breaks on-street and was “based on achieving a specified level of clamps and de-clamps”.
In a letter to Green Party councillor Ciarán Cuffe, DCC chief Owen Keegan wrote that this gave rise to a concern that key performance indicators were not being met, with clampers clocking out of work early due to the scheme.
The protected disclosures were made by two employees of Dublin Street Parking Services (DSPS).
The council initially appointed former Garda assistant commissioner Michael J McCarthy to investigate.
However, following representation from DSPS, the council withdrew a report by Mr McCarthy because it “breached the principles of natural justice”.
In the letter to Cllr Cuffe, Mr Keegan said that while he was “satisfied in general the parking enforcement service operated to a reasonable standard”, he felt “there was a valid basis for the various concerns that were raised”.
“DSPS, with considerable justification, robustly denied any wrongdoing on its part or any failure to comply with its obligations to the city council under the parking enforcement contract,” he said.
Mr Keegan also said that the primary responsibility for any problems with the parking enforcement services lay with the council’s monitoring of it.
He indicated a failure to fill the vacant post of parking enforcement officer, along with inadequate on-street monitoring of the service by the council were issues.
The DCC chief also added that the council has launched a major programme of road marking renewals, and that in cases where road markings were not in place motorists have had their clamping refunded.
He said a new inspector position was being created to ensure greater monitoring of the service and that a new parking enforcement contract, which was now out to tender, would have a range of new key performance indicators.
Mr Keegan expressed his “sincere regret for management failures” on the issues.
Reacting to the letter, Cllr Cuffe said that reform of parking enforcement was needed, particularly in relation to footpaths being blocked, parking in cycle lanes and the illegal use of disabled parking spaces.
“People need to be confident that parking enforcement operates to a high standard in the city.
“On a regular basis, I have raised cases of poor parking practice in Dublin,” Mr Cuffe said.
DSPS could not be contacted for comment at the time of going to print.