Dublin’s clamping rates rose by 6% last year, with Merrion Square South topping the list for illegal parking. Key areas and trends are highlighted in the latest report.
Dublin City Council reported 46,931 vehicles were clamped in 2024. That’s about 128 vehicles each day. This number is similar to pre-pandemic levels.
Merrion Square South clamped 704 vehicles, making it the busiest area for parking enforcement. It was previously ranked fourth in 2023 with 596 clamped vehicles.
Half of the clamped vehicles were due to unpaid parking fees. Over 5,000 were clamped for parking on clearways, with Clarendon Street and Ranelagh being major offenders.
Another 3,200 vehicles were clamped for unauthorized loading bay parking. Rathmines Road Lower and Foley Street were key locations for these incidents.
Almost 1,800 vehicles were caught parking on footpaths. New Ireland Road in Rialto had 7% of these violations. Additionally, 1,700 vehicles were clamped for parking in bus lanes.
There were 450 cases of vehicles parked in disabled spaces without valid badges. Only one vehicle was clamped for misusing an electric vehicle charging space.
The rise in clamping coincided with traffic changes aimed at reducing private vehicle access in the city. These changes did not affect parking revenue, which increased by 15% to €36.8 million.
Dublin City Council also collected €5.3 million from clamping fees, a 9% increase from 2023. Parking fines issued by traffic wardens rose by 6% to €904,523.
Parking fines were reintroduced in July 2021 to address illegal parking issues. Nearly 10,600 vehicles were towed last year for various violations.
Most motorists paid the standard clamp release fee of €125. If unpaid within 24 hours, vehicles are moved to the city pound, incurring higher fees.
One motorist had to pay €950 to retrieve their vehicle after failing to pay for parking. Twenty-four others paid over €500 to get their cars back.
Merrion Square South replaced Ranelagh as the main blackspot for illegal parking in 2024. Ranelagh saw a 40% decrease in clamped vehicles, dropping to seventh place.
Clarendon Street remained the second most common clamping location with 693 vehicles. Other notable areas included South Circular Road and Mespil Road.
The top ten blackspots for clamping stayed the same, with some changes in rankings. Grantham Street and St Anthony’s Road joined the top 20 list.
Parking enforcement staff identified illegal parking at around 1,570 locations in the city. The highest number of clamped vehicles in one day was 218 on June 12.
Motorists are most likely to be clamped on Thursdays, especially between 8 am and 10 am. November had the highest clamping rate with 4,439 vehicles.
In some areas outside Dublin, illegal parking is even worse. For example, 1,586 motorists were fined on Main Street in Lucan last year.
In Fingal County, North Street in Swords was the worst blackspot, with 1,365 fines issued.
