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File photo Mark Stedman/Rollingnews.ie

DCC's deal for new clamping contractors includes €150 fine every time a driver successfully appeals

The council is seeking a “close” relationship with a new clamping contractor in a deal worth €45 million.

DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL is looking for new clampers – and is inviting tenders for a contract with an estimated total value of €45 million.

The council is seeking a clamping contractor to carry out over 50,000 “successful clamps” each year.

Under the proposals, the clampers will have to pay the council a €150 penalty fee if a vehicle owner successfully appeals the decision to clamp them, as well as refunding them the money. That is an increase from the current fine of €100.

The council calls for a “balanced delivery” of service over five years, with a “close professional working relationship” between it and the contractor.

The successful contractor is required to strictly follow the rules of clamping set out by the council or face financial penalties.

It comes after a previous tender worth €35 million was granted to Park Rite in 2011.

‘Evenly distributed’ 

In the current tender, Dublin City Council sets out a number of essential requirements that the successful clamping contractor must meet.

This includes maintaining a “high level of compliance with on-street parking restrictions” and “minimising the net cost to DCC of providing the service”. 

“The council envisages that the annual number of clamps will be in the region of 55,000 to 57,000 per annum,” it said. 

On the need for a close relationship, the council said it is recognised that this is the only way in which the service can be delivered.

The clampers will need to provide routine information on how many calls it receives, its daily activity across the city, statistics on how many cars were parked correctly and legally, and how many clamps it administers.

The areas that the clampers will be required to cover include all the lands under the remit of the city council, broken down by areas such as the city centre, suburban villages, residential areas, bus corridors, cycle lanes and pay-and-display areas.

They will be required to work from 7am till midnight Monday to Friday, 8am to midnight on Saturday and from 10am to midnight on Sundays.

In terms of a “balanced delivery of service”, Dublin City Council said that care must be given to the number of vehicles clamped, the geographic coverage and the times of day it takes action.

The council said: “To avoid an imbalance of service delivery the contractor shall ensure that over the course of each calendar month: that the number of vehicles clamped for pay and display offences does not exceed 55% of the total vehicles clamped, that the percentage of night time (from 5pm onwards) clamps shall be no less than 20% and no more than 30% of vehicles clamped.”

It also requires half of on-street staff to be capable of operating relocation and removal vehicles, as well as asking the contractor to be flexible in how it approaches the job.

“For example, removals are increasingly difficult to manage, not least because of the volume of traffic on Dublin’s roads,” it said.

As a result, the emphasis has shifted towards relocating vehicles rather than taking them back to the pound.

This flexibility will also be required when working around events at Croke Park, the Aviva Stadium and the 3 Arena, the council noted.

Clamping down

In what actually needs to be done when clamping vehicles, the successful contractor will be responsible for the clamping, releasing the clamp immediately if certain criteria apply, dealing with the public, and taking payments for the clamp.

When a clamp is paid for, it must be released within two hours, with a set target of 85% released within one hour. 

If the clamp is not removed within this timeframe, the individual will be refunded the charge of removing the clamp, the council said.

When an appeal is granted due to the contractor failing to adhere to the appropriate rules and procedures, it will be required to pay the council €150 each time this happens.

While it is within the rights of clampers to relocate or remove a vehicle, it must not actually enter the vehicle.

It must also handle payment of the fees paid by drivers, and give it to the council.

When it comes to appeals, it set a target of a final decision being given within 21 days in 95% of cases.

According to documents released to TheJournal.ie  under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 earlier this year, 228 clamping appeals were made to the National Transport Authority in the first two months after a new law allowed for independent complaints to be made.

Under the new legislation, drivers can also make complaints to the NTA if they are dissatisfied with their treatment by a clamper.

A number of financial penalties can also be incurred, depending on what rules a contractor may break, according to the tender.

clamping tender

clamping tender 2

Dublin City Council would also transfer assets as part of its clamping contract, including €168,827 worth of vehicles, and over €110,000 worth of IT equipment.

The closing date for receipt of tenders is 8 October.

 With reporting from Christina Finn

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45 Comments
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    Mute mary carey
    Favourite mary carey
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    Aug 4th 2015, 5:31 PM

    While I’m not glad she’s gone, I’m glad she did not suffer. She was a gentle person who suffered greatly with grief after her husband passed. I’m glad she didn’t suffer

    478
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    Mute paul farrell
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    Aug 4th 2015, 5:37 PM

    Old Skool saturday evening TV, RIP cilla

    234
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    Mute Eamonn O'Regan
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    Aug 4th 2015, 5:32 PM

    Rest in peace, luv- and thank you for the music.

    223
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    Mute Eamon Mac Gowan
    Favourite Eamon Mac Gowan
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    Aug 4th 2015, 8:13 PM

    @Eamonn O’Regan,
    Music? She sounded like a tomcat screeching.

    18
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    Mute Francid Dooley
    Favourite Francid Dooley
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    Aug 4th 2015, 11:33 PM

    Yes she was not a grate singer but that dident stop her. Don’t let your handy cap stop you.

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    Mute Stephanie Phillips
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    Aug 6th 2015, 11:17 AM

    That’s such a cruel comment to make about another human being but judging by your inability to spell correctly, not surprised!!!

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    Mute Francid Dooley
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    Aug 4th 2015, 5:34 PM

    Poor old cilla, all the best in the next place.

    217
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    Mute tom
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    Aug 4th 2015, 6:27 PM

    If she entertained you all great but a casual review will tell you there were 2 Cilla’s.
    I’m sorry she’s died but I a bit perturbed by all this idolising. I think we need balance. Sorry to rain on anybody’s parade.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-444286/Surprise-Surprise–Cilla-nice-think.html

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    Mute Catherine
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    Aug 4th 2015, 6:54 PM

    I don’t think that’s a casual review. More like a bit of click bait for a well know rag.

    69
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    Mute Philip Horan
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    Aug 4th 2015, 6:55 PM

    I think you’ll find it’s the same when every light entertainment figure dies. Nothing unusual about Cilla.

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    Mute Maria Conroy Byrne
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    Aug 4th 2015, 7:28 PM

    Funny how the interviewer could damn her completely in such a short space of time. It seems to me she was determined to write a negative article. I’m sure most of us have our good and bad days. RIP Cilla.

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    Mute Paul Dunne
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    Aug 4th 2015, 7:59 PM

    ah Tom is a Irish thing everyone is a great bit of stuff when they pop their clogs no matters how much of a bollix they where in life.

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    Mute Trevor Weafer
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    Aug 4th 2015, 11:08 PM

    TV legend. Remember always watching her on blind date as a kid. True show biz performer. RIP Cilla.

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    Mute OneTrueVoice
    Favourite OneTrueVoice
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    Aug 4th 2015, 8:21 PM

    Of the 151,232 people who died the same day as Cilla … I hope they all had a peaceful passing.

    Something close to 151,231 are not on our radar.

    Many were of old age and natural causes. But too many were young, oppressed, tortured and died a horrific unjust death. But we don’t really care, do we.

    29
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    Mute Joe Harbison
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    Aug 4th 2015, 11:52 PM

    Don’t want to be picky but thats not a stroke, its a head injury. Irish coroners wouldn’t accept it as a stroke as there was head trauma. Stroke occurs due to the spontaneous occlusion or rupture of a cerebral vessel.

    24
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    Mute Eamon Mac Gowan
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    Aug 4th 2015, 8:11 PM

    She made a tiny bit of talent go a very long way, also she was supposed to have been really obnoxious. She would not even speak to the builders who were doing up her house

    21
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    Mute OneTrueVoice
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    Aug 4th 2015, 8:25 PM

    Makes Tubridy and O’Connor even more wondrous.

    They make zero talent go to infinity. Cilla wasn’t even in their league.

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    Mute Ruth McCann
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    Aug 4th 2015, 11:42 PM

    have a bit of respect! she was such a kind lady, loved her fans, and had more talent than you, you troll!

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    Mute Eamon Mac Gowan
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    Aug 5th 2015, 10:23 AM

    @Ruth McCann,
    Oh, so you knew her personally?

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    Mute Linny
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    Aug 4th 2015, 6:57 PM

    In other words she fell over in a happy stupor. How lucky is Cilla?

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    Mute tom
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    Aug 4th 2015, 6:29 PM

    There are plenty of similar articles on the net but I guess most fans won’t want to read them, which is fair enough.

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    Mute tom
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    Aug 4th 2015, 7:02 PM

    There are loads of these articles. Just google them.

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    Mute Mindfulirish
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    Aug 5th 2015, 3:49 AM

    If you can’t say anything good about the dead say nothing.

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