Galway City Council is believed to have communicated concerns to Gardaí that its parking meters may be vulnerable to interference while a dispute with the company which previously operated them continues.
A contract row between UTS Technologies, which has managed Galway’s parking apparatus since 2018, and the local authority, resulted in nearly all the city’s meters unable to accept coin or card payments last week. A grace period for car parking in the city is set to expire this Sunday, January 19.
It is understood all coins have been emptied from Galway parking meters, some of which are capable of holding up to €800.
It is understood that an official from the City Council attended a Galway garda station last week to raise concerns that almost 100 parking meters across the city might be vulnerable to interference during a grace period. It is understood gardaí noted concerns, and no alleged offence was reported.
There is no suggestion that employees of the city council, UTS, or any other entity were implicated in communications with gardaí.
UTS initiated judicial review proceedings against Galway city council last July regarding its decision not to award a new contract to it for parking machine payment and maintenance services in June. A few weeks earlier, in May, the country’s largest on-street parking provider illustrated their long-term commitment to the area when they announced a five-year financial sponsorship of safety equipment for Claddagh Watch volunteers in the city.
A spokesperson for the City Council did not respond to media enquiries at time of going to press.
A spokesman for UTS, the country’s largest parking meter operator, said the company was concerned about any reports that might damage the company’s reputation.
“Following the expiry of the contract, access to the machines is now confined to Galway City Council’s own staff, and UTS cannot currently access the machines. UTS is awaiting the return of some of its property from Galway City Council,” he said. “As of today, the Council has not requested UTS to return to operating and maintaining the parking meters, which UTS would be happy to do. We have no further comment to make at this time.”
A Garda spokesman said: “Gardaí in the North Western Region are aware of an ongoing dispute between two parties in the region. An Garda Síochána has not commenced an investigation at this time.”
Car parking is an important revenue stream for the city council, with charges and fines adding up to more than €3m for last year.
In 2022, a man was sentenced to five months in prison for stealing almost €3,500 from parking meters in Galway city centre in 2016.
