Dublin City Council has apologised to and agreed to refund motorists who were clamped wrongly earlier this year.
A total of 26 vehicles were clamped on Noel Purcell Walk and Longford Street at the side of the St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre in Dublin city centre during a six months period.
In January 2017 the parking control road signage was re-erected but due to an oversight the required road markings were not re-instated until July 2017.
Both have to be in place under the “lineage and signage” rule.
No parking offence was committed because of the absence of road markings.
The issue was brought to the attention of the council's chief executive Owen Keegan by a member of the public.
As a consequence the council is contacting the registered owners of the vehicles to make arrangements for a refund of the declamp fees that were paid.
However, the process of refunding the owners is being delayed because neither the council nor Dublin Street Parking Services (DSPS), the company which operates on its behalf, have kept details of the individuals who paid declamp fees in respect of the vehicles for data protection reasons.
The council has also told DSPS not to take enforcement action where road markings and /or signage as required are not in place and clearly legible.
A council spokesman said investigations into how the incident occurred are ongoing.
