Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I will make a few brief points on the Bill. Having been introduced for traffic management purposes, clamping has morphed into a major revenue raising exercise by private companies. This approach should be outlawed. Clamping for traffic management purposes is one thing but its use as a means of extorting money from drivers is unacceptable.

It is obscene that people returning from a hospital visit, whether to visit a patient, drop in a sample or undergo a test, often find their cars clamped because they have been delayed by a few minutes. I am sure all Deputies could relate tales of woe caused by clamping. My car was clamped on one occasion while I was dropping a sample into Connolly Hospital. I was speaking to the consultant at the entrance after he called me back and my car was clamped right in front of us. My daughter was also present. The consultant, who was a member of the board of the hospital, failed to persuade the clampers to remove the device. It is beyond belief that such practices are taking place on hospital grounds.

I ask the Minister to consider introducing an amendment to rectify a deficiency in the Bill related to private management companies, which are not covered. Private estate management companies are a scourge in Dublin West, a constituency in which much of the house building of the past ten years has taken place. Many of these are mult-unit estates have a mix of apartments and houses and residents, including - wrongly - the residents of houses, are frequently required to pay management fees. Many management companies are using clamping to get people to pay management fees. This has occurred in the Phoenix Park Racecourse estate and other estates in Dublin 15 and elsewhere and is currently taking place in Ongar. What happens is the management company holds a meeting at which it introduces a system of parking permits. Subsequently, anyone who fails to pay the full management fee is not issued with a parking permit, with the result that his or her car will be clamped outside their door. Parents who are trying to get their children to school or leave for work will then discover their car has been clamped. Does the Minister propose to do anything about this practice?

Private management companies are a burden that should never have been imposed on people, especially those living in houses. Many of them are not subject to proper regulation or accountability because they are operated by developers. It is unacceptable that people have to put up with such companies engaging in clamping. I guarantee that this will be a live election issue in many areas because if anything annoys people, it is being prevented from relaxing in their home.

Clamping was started by local authorities in cities but has since been outsourced to large multinational companies. In 2012, APCOA Ireland, one of the companies involved, had accumulated profits of €3.4 million. It is clear from where the pressure to clamp comes and it is not connected with traffic management.

I am sure Deputies will have read reports indicating that Merrion Square, at the rear of Leinster House, is the most clamped area in Dublin. All of us will have observed clampers lying in wait in the hope that people will return to their cars one or two minutes late. Many Deputies have brought guests to the House to attend a debate or for other reasons whose cars have been clamped because they were delayed by two minutes. If this practice is taking place 100 yd. from this Chamber, the Minister should do something about it.

I ask the Minister to address the issues I raise. Failing that, I will seek to amend the Bill to take account of the experiences of residents living in estates with private management companies. Many young families are feeling the strain of the property tax, management fees and, potentially, water charges and many have lost their jobs. Should they endure the practice of clamping in the areas in which they live? I think not.

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