New text alert scheme is up and running in South Dublin

A NEW text alert scheme by the Disabled Drivers’ Association is now up and running in South Dublin County.

The scheme allows people to report the misuse of disabled parking bays, and the announcement of the scheme also included findings from a recent survey by the association.

Over 2,600 people from across the country responded to the survey, which was carried out to highlight the associations’ campaign to call on councils to introduce a text alert scheme.

A total of 94 per cent of respondents said they would welcome a mobile phone text alert scheme to notify the local warden when someone was parked illegally.

A text alert scheme is already in use in South Dublin County, following a successful pilot in Lucan Village spearheaded by disability activist and Fine Gael councillor for Lucan, Vicki Casserly.

Cllr Casserly said: “I first brought it to South Dublin County Council because I was very keen to tackle the misuse of accessible parking bays in our area as well as supporting An Garda Siochana’s Operation Enable.

“It’s been very successful and that’s why I believe that the text alert scheme should be rolled out nationwide because it does enable proper use of the parking bays and acts as a strong deterrent against misuse.

“The scheme supports persons with disabilities to be able to navigate their communities for their day-to-day life.

“It’s so important and I’d love to see this happening across Ireland to support and acknowledge the rights of a person with a disability.”

It is an offence to park a vehicle in an accessible parking bay in a public place without a valid parking permit.

Offenders receive a parking fine of €150 which increases to €225 if not paid within 28 days.

Despite this, parking bay abuse is still going on, according to Richard Ryder of the Disabled Drivers’ Association.

Mr Ryder said: “Our survey wasn’t confined to our members, we received a huge response from across the community, with many people without disabilities commenting they are annoyed and frustrated with the misuse of accessible parking bays.

“It’s very clear that people want an opportunity to be able to do something about parking bay abuse but in a safe way.

“It’s why we are calling on city and county councils to begin using a Text Alert Scheme in their areas.

“It’s safe, it’s easy and it’s a significant deterrent.”