Pity Dublin's parking wardens. Having devoted years of their lives to vain attempts at regulating a worsening traffic situation, they are being ejected as employees from the Department of Justice. The Minister, Mr John O'Donoghue, is determined to transfer them, along with responsibility for traffic control, to Dublin Corporation on April 12th. Of the 160 men and women at present employed, only about 30 are likely to find work within the new traffic management system. The remainder may be offered early retirement or employment within manual grades. The new county councils of Fingal, South Dublin and Dun Laoghaire /Rathdown are understood to be less than enthusiastic about employing them.
This group of workers may not be popular with the public because of the nature of their work. But that does not excuse the shabby treatment that is being meted out to them. As things stand, they are graded as unestablished civil servants within the Department of Justice and they would lose this status on transfer to Dublin Corporation. Many of them are no longer young and would find difficulty in gaining alternative employment. Understandably, they are less than happy with the situation and a judicial review may be sought in the courts.
Fine Gael's spokesperson on traffic, Ms Olivia Mitchell, has accused the Minister of abdicating his responsibilities. She says that Mr O'Donoghue should have the courage and courtesy to deal with the industrial relations issues that would inevitably arise from the disbandment of an obsolete service.
There is no doubt that the traffic warden service, as presently constituted, has passed its sell-by date. But reform and rationalisation should be conducted in a fair and sensitive manner, with due regard to the rights of the men and women involved. If the old system was not profitable or terribly effective, how much of this resulted from a failure by the State to collect fines and from various forms of official interference?
The traffic gridlock and parking crisis of recent years has called for more forceful measures than those traditionally employed. The introduction of clamping by Dublin Corporation, with its attendant inconveniences and an obligatory payment of £65, has cut a swathe through illegal parking. The system has an added attraction for the Corporation in that the experience of cities in Britain has shown it to raise large amounts of revenue. Private enterprise enthusiasm in such areas should, however, be carefully monitored to avoid the exploitation of citizens. Resistance to clamping has already emerged from within the business community, particular in Dun Laoghaire. But given the worsening traffic situation and the ever-increasing number of private cars on our roads, clamping is an idea whose time has come.