High rate of parking fines in Westmeath

By Orlaith Delaney

Westmeath has one of the highest rates of parking fines nationwide.

Last year, Westmeath County Council issued 7,424 parking fines, which was marginally down on the 7,477 fines issued by the local authority in 2022.

A breakdown of parking fines nationally, which was published in the Irish Independent, showed that Westmeath had the eighth-highest rate of fines, per head of population, among Ireland's 31 local authorities.

According to a Westmeath County Council spokesperson, the majority of the fines last year were in the Mullingar-Kinnegad Municipal District, where 5,481 fines were handed out.

The Athlone-Moate Municipal District saw 1,943 tariffs issued.

The council said the higher rate of fines in the north of the county was “directly related to the greater percentage of public on and off-street parking available in Mullingar versus the private offering in Athlone”.

In addition, there are three traffic wardens employed in the Mullingar-Kinnegad District, compared to one traffic warden in the Athlone-Moate District.

The council spokesperson said traffic wardens were employed to fairly and impartially enforce the current parking, traffic and car park bye-laws and to issue fixed charge notices for breaches thereof. They also provide advice to the public regarding parking regulations.

In contrast, Roscommon County Council does not have any public paid parking facilities and does not employ any traffic wardens.

According to a Roscommon County Council spokesperson, when paid parking was first being introduced by local authorities, Roscommon “considered the cost of hiring traffic wardens, installing parking metres and generally managing a paid parking system, along with the economic benefit to towns and settlements within the county that free parking would afford, including benefits for visitors, tourists, shoppers, retail and businesses and so on.

“When all was considered, Roscommon chose a different path.

It decided the local economic benefits of making Roscommon a parking-friendly destination outweighed the income paid parking would generate.”

The council spokesperson said this approach “may not work in a more urban context,” but that it had benefitted Roscommon, which is a more rural county.