Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I, too, look forward to what I hope will be constructive dialogue. It will be critical at times but I will try to ensure that, where possible, we are constructive from this side of the House.

Fine Gael's bringing forward of this legislation is an example of that. We have looked at what is working elsewhere and what is not working and, therefore, what I launched some weeks ago is straightforward legislation which essentially states in simplistic terms that if someone intends to operate a vehicle immobilisation company, that is, a clamping company, he or she will have to get a licence to do that. If they are clamping people's cars in a private car park, whether that is in an hotel, a hospital, an apartment complex, a restaurant, a shopping centre or whatever, they will have a set of rules and a code of conduct that is legally enforceable applied to them. Unfortunately, there have been examples of companies abusing their position of power by using clamping to charge ridiculous sums of money, which is an over punishment for people parking in the wrong place. This is about getting a balance between ensuring that clamping is responsibly used as a tool to manage car park facilities and also protecting consumers from being abused.

I do not accept that the Minister's remit does not allow him to legislate for this issue. It has already been legislated for in many European countries where they have simply put a regulatory mechanism in place to regulate this industry in which, unfortunately, there are some cowboys operating. I ask the Minister to look at it again. This is supported by the legitimate parking industry in Ireland who want to see this industry cleaned up.

See this speech in context