A Member of the Clare Leader Forum is calling for greater enforcement of rules surrounding accessible parking bays, saying there’s a blatant misuse of parking badges.
Ann-Marie Flanagan is commenting amid growing frustration over difficulties in accessing the spaces in this county.
Accessible parking spaces have been in existence in Ireland for around six decades, but there still remains a limited number of bays across Clare and elsewhere.
Anyone found to be stopped or parked up in one of the designated spaces, without a valid permit, is liable for a fixed charge of 150 euro.
But one North Clare wheelchair user says this hasn’t made any difference to people parking in them – when they shouldn’t be.
Margaret Kinnane from Inagh says the biggest problem lies with people who don’t have a valid permit making use of them for a “quick” visit to the shops.
A member of the Clare Leader Forum believes this issue is compounded by a blatant misuse of disabled parking badges.
Ann-Marie Flanagan believes people may be using badges belonging to other family members, while she also says that too many badges are being issued to people who may not necessarily need them.
