The Government has no plans to stop renting thousands of car parking spaces for public servants at a cost of over €8 million a year, it was confirmed today.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said “there are no immediate proposals to change policy in this regard”, adding that details of whether or not the Government’s proposed levy of €200 on car parking spaces would affect public servants had yet to be finalised.
Mr Lenihan was responding to a series of written parliamentary questions from Fine Gael transport spokesman Fergus O'Dowd asking about the implementation of the parking levy.
The Minister replied that detailed provisions of the levy are still being finalised and will be included in the Finance Bill, which is to be published next month.
Mr O'Dowd said the outlay of the Office of Public Works of over €8.2 million on renting spaces for Government workers last year was "a massive waste of money".
He also claimed that details were so "sketchy" on the scheme that it was proof the policy was "rushed and ill thought-out".
Earlier this year, the Dublin City Business Association found that of almost 22,000 parking spaces in the city, about 13,000 were used by public servants, most of whom DCBA said have free parking.
Last week, a spokesman for the Department of Finance told
The Irish Timesthe €200 levy would apply to all civil servants and members of the Oireachtas, as well as to ordinary citizens.
