Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 July 2004
261 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Transport the regulations available to county councils to restrict the parking of HGVs in residential areas; the number of local authorities that have such restrictions in place; and if his Department has issued guidance to local authorities on the matter. [20708/04]
View answerThe Road (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997 give local authorities the power to apply a range of parking controls on vehicles, including the imposition of a prohibition on the parking of large vehicles. Article 38 of these regulations provides that where the appropriate traffic sign is provided at the entrance to a road or an area, a vehicle whose unladen weight exceeds the weight specified on the information plate that accompanied the sign, is prohibited from being parked in that area. At the end of the prohibition on such parking in an area a traffic sign accompanied by an information plate containing a symbol of a large vehicle and the word END-CRÍOCH is provided. The restriction on such parking does not apply where it is necessary to park the large vehicle while goods are being loaded in or on to it or unloaded from it for a period not exceeding 30 minutes from the commencement of the parking.
The application of prohibitions provided for in article 38 and the determination of the weight-based threshold is a matter for each local authority and my Department does not compile statistics in relation to the exercise of such functions. General guidance notes for local authorities in relation to the Road (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997 were issued in May 1997.
