The following was raised and discussed at the February Full Council meeting on 23/02/2026.
Na Comhairleoirí – Councillors Evie Sammon, Kevin Duffy, William Durkan, Brendan Wyse, and Ivan Keatley
Given the imminent cessation of APCOA’s contract, that the council considers moving to a model of Community Wardens, where wardens would have broad enforcement powers in the areas of parking enforcement, litter fines and enforcement of responsible dog ownership, similar to the model in place in Cork City Council and Dublin City Council.
Report: Kildare County Council administers and enforces parking bye-laws and traffic regulations throughout the county by means of bye-laws operating in seven pay parking bye-law towns i.e. Athy, Celbridge, Kildare, Leixlip, Maynooth, Naas and Newbridge which are regulated by our contractor APCOA Parking Ireland Limited, and three maximum stay bye-law towns; Clane, Kilcock and Sallins, which are regulated by Kildare County Council wardens who also regulate the rest of the County outside of the pay parking bye-law towns.
The model of enforcement of parking regulations by community wardens was in operation a number of years ago and did not prove to be an efficient use of resources. This matter was discussed and addressed at the Transportation and Public Safety Strategic Policy Committee in 2016.
The key objective of regulated parking is to encourage the turnover of parking spaces at key central locations, allow for easier parking options for drivers with additional needs and make cheaper parking available in car-parks for commuters and longer-stay visitors while encouraging visitors to towns to consider using more sustainable means of transport such as public transport or walking and cycling. Enforcement of parking regulations requires a consistent full-time on-street presence to ensure compliance with parking byelaws and road traffic legislation, particularly during peak times. It was previously established that the model of community wardens carrying out enforcement did not work as a combination of duties vis-à-vis litter fines, dog fouling and other duties, invariably leaves a substantial gap in the visible on-street presence that is necessary to ensure compliance with a managed parking service.
The community wardens in the Environment Department are fully engaged in litter management enforcement.
The scale of the parking operation in County Kildare is not at the scale of larger urban authorities such as Dublin and Cork, however, at a national level, Kildare is considered a best practice model. The transfer of engagement from a private contractor to a community warden-based system would have considerable implications including:
procurement of cash collection services
procurement of a systems to manage payment services
Investment in hardware and software systems to manage and regulate parking
The introduction of a community warden system would also necessitate an increase in administrative staff to manage the back-off process, currently carried out by our service provider.
In accordance with best practice, Kildare County Council are in discussion with the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) who are currently preparing a framework for parking services. Once this framework is in place, the Council will undertake a procurement process ensuring the best value for money for the Council. The Council are of the view that this is the most economically efficient means of delivering the service and best practice of managing parking services in bye-law towns for the foreseeable future. Surpluses generated from pay parking are used by municipal districts for the improvement of local and regional roads, footpaths, public lighting and road safety measures. The budgeted estimate for these improvements in 2026 is €1,106,752.
