asked the Minister for Local Government whether the on-the-spot parking fines were increased from 10/- to £1 by order when the Dáil was in recess; and if he will now revoke that order until adequate parking space is provided for motor vehicle owners to cater for the increased number of vehicles registered in Dublin city and county as well as for outside traffic causing congestion in Dublin city area.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Parking Fines.
40.
I wish to rebut the implication in the Deputy's question that these regulations were made because the Dáil was in recess. They were made on 27th July, 1964, with effect from 1st August because traffic conditions required that they be made as quickly as possible and experience had shown that the existing regulations did not operate as a sufficient deterrent. A person served with a notice under the new regulations may still exercise the option of allowing the case to go to court. The new regulations have, in fact, reduced the incidence of parking offences and I do not propose to revoke them.
Does the Minister consider that the parking facilities in Dublin are in any way adequate? People are fined for parking offences because they have no place to park their cars. They leave their cars in certain places for extended periods because they have no place else to park.
I do not suggest that there are sufficient car parks in Dublin, but it is a fact that the streets in this city, or any other city, are primarily intended as lines of communication and not parking lots, and the sooner the public realise that the better.
Does the Minister accept the fact that he is now throwing the onus back on the public generally, whereas it should be his responsibility and that of his officials to provide car parking facilities for the public?
We made very fair offers to the local authorities in regard to multi car parking facilities. We have already provided about 1,200 or 1,300 car spaces in or around the centre of Dublin, and a further 1,500 parking spaces are in course of being provided as surface parking lots, again in and around the centre of the city. The public must keep in mind that whatever about parking their cars, the one place where we cannot afford to have cars parked is on the streets, many of which are already inadequate as lines of communication.
Is the Minister aware of any private enterprise which is putting up multi car parking facilities in the city?
No, but it is an economic proposition as we know from investigations we carried out some time ago.