Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the Second Stage debate on this Bill in the Dáil, a number of Deputies raised the issue of trying to get answers from clamping companies when someone has a query or complaint. I agreed with that point. People often find that their complaints or queries can go unanswered for a long time or even indefinitely and I introduced this amendment to section 17 to cater for those situations. Section 17 deals with the complaints procedure that the NTA may set up for members of the public. Amendment No. 4 adds a further category to the list of issues in subsection (1) about which complaints may be made, namely, complaints in relation to the time it takes for parking controllers and clamping operators to respond to complaints or to other communications from the public. This is an important addition to the Bill. It was also referred to by Members of this House when the Bill was here. It allows the National Transport Authority to regulate in this area. Amendment No. 3 is purely consequential. It simply facilitates this new provision being added to the list of categories in subsection (1). Specifically, the word "and" must be moved from the end of paragraph (b) to the end of new paragraph (c).