EXCLUSIVE: Almost €1.6 million made in parking fines in Louth as half of tickets left unpaid in Dundalk

Almost €1.6 worth of parking fines have been paid out to Louth County Council in the last five years, with half of all fines issued in Dundalk not being paid.

According to data provided to the Democrat via Freedom of Information, Louth County Council have received €1,599,403 in parking fines between 2016 and 2020.

These figures are a sum total of three types of parking fines, including fines for not displaying tickets and parking in a disabled parking spot.

Data provided to the Democrat shows that half of all parking fines issued and upheld in Dundalk were not paid by those who were fined.

In total, there were 25,829 fines issued by Louth County Council in Dundalk that were upheld and of those, 12,945 were paid.

The remaining 12,884 were not paid to Louth County Council.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Seán Kelly queried why there were so many unpaid fines in the Dundalk area, raising questions as to what Louth County Council were doing to catch people who haven’t paid their fines.

“I’m shocked by the number of unpaid tickets,” said Cllr Kelly, saying that he would be raising the matter at the next meeting of Louth County Council.

There have also been a significant amount of fines that were written off or appealed in the last five years, with 7,574 in total being written off in Dundalk alone.

Louth County Council received the most money from fines in 2018, with €445,811 worth of fines being paid across both Dundalk and Drogheda.

2020 saw the council receive €199,170, due to a low number of fines being issued in 2020, likely due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions.