Illegal use of parking permits to be targeted
Eddie Hawkins, the city council’s parking enforcement manager, said he believed a number of forged permits are being used on the streets.
“You can buy forgeries in pubs on the northside of the city for anything between €200 and €500,” Mr Hawkins said.
In addition, he said other people are borrowing the “blue badge” permits from disabled relatives who they are not carrying in the car and using them to park free in the city centre all day.
Also, it is believed some drivers still use permits issued to relatives who have since died.
“People are not surrendering these permits when they recover from an illness or when one of their relatives who had a permit passes away. The permits must be surrendered in these cases,” the parking enforcement manager said.
Mr Hawkins, a former British policeman, said it was a major problem which was obviously costing the city council a lot of money in lost revenue.
Earlier this week Mr Hawkins’ team put notices on vehicles — displaying blue badge permits — warning that spot checks will be carried out by traffic wardens in the coming weeks.
“You’d be amazed, by even putting out the notices, the effect it will have on some people using the badges,” he said.
Concerns have been raised by members of the business community that the permit system was being abused.
A survey carried out nearly two years ago showed, out of 60 parking spaces on the South Mall, 38 were occupied by vehicles displaying a blue badge.
Mr Hawkins said there would be a continuing campaign to ensure only genuine permit holders parked for free in the city centre.
The move is being supported by the Cork Access Group — an umbrella body for disability support groups in the city — which includes representatives of the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Disabled Drivers’ Association.
Mr Hawkins said the rules were changing for the issuing of permits which would make it far easier to detect those using them illegally.
Previously, a GP could simply fill out a form for somebody with a minor illness to ensure they received a permit. Now such applications will also have to be centrally assessed.
Furthermore, new permits will be issued with a bar code which will make it far easier to spot forgeries.
Donal Healy, chief executive of Cork Business Association (CBA), welcomed the crackdown.
“We have 186 disabled parking spaces in the city centre and we want to ensure they are being used by genuine people,” he said.
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