Clamping people who park their cars illegally is “on the way out”, a Dublin councillor has predicted. 

Dublin City Council is one of the few remaining local authorities in Ireland to continue with the practice. 

However, Dublin Street Parking Services will no longer clamp cars for DCC when their current contract ends. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, Fianna Fáil Councillor Keith Connolly said he has “two main issues” with the current contract. 

“A lot of the clamping at the moment takes place in the city centre,” he explained. 

“In areas like my own, such as Finglas Ballymun, basically have a very, very, very slow service. 

“So, a councillor or a member of the public might call in a legal parking, for example, say in Finglas Village.

“And by the time the SPS come out to actually look at the vehicle, they're well gone.” 

A car clamped in Dublin. Picture by: Sam Boal/RollingNews

Councillors have asked for a new contractor to have a base in each of the local authority areas. 

They also want improved out of hour services. 

“We've had major issues over the past number of years with calling the SPS in the evenings,” Cllr Connolly added. 

“You'd have a skeleton staff on and, meanwhile, someone else's driveway is blocked in Fisburgh or Cabra or Finglas and they don't call out in time.” 

However, Cllr Connolly added that he believes clamping will soon be replaced with a system of fines for those who park illegally. 

“I personally would probably think clamping is on the way out,” he predicted. 

“I [prefer] issuing penalty notices and enforcement; I think we have enough technology these days to track people's reg plates.

“If you issue a fine, it's much quicker for the person actually issuing the fine; if you actually put a clamp on, you have to get a call out to take it back off again.” 

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The Ballymun councllor continued that he felt his council colleagues broadly agree. 

“We haven't had a debate on it, I think, since 2024, which was a couple of years ago now,” he said. 

“But I know the vast majority of people certainly would see.”

Main image: A car clamped in Dublin. Picture by: Alamy.com.