There is a clear consensus shared by Government, Dublin Corporation and the Dublin Transportation Office that parking policy in the city centre must be geared towards meeting the needs of short term parkers, rather than commuters.
The Dublin Transportation Initiative recognised that the provision of adequate short term parking in the city centre was critical to its continued economic viability, if it was to compete successfully with out of town shopping centres.
The DTI also said it would be essential to set a target of reducing the total number of long stay (i.e. commuter) parking spaces in the city centre, both to reduce traffic congestion in the morning and evening peaks and to encourage motorists to use public transport.
"Effective compliance with, and enforcement of the traffic and parking laws is essential to the optimum implementation of the DTI strategy. A failure to address these issues adequately could undermine the strategy and lead to a waste of scarce resources," it said in its final report.
It is also the declared policy of Dublin Corporation, as laid down in the 1991 City Development Plan, to "provide for short term shopping and business requirements and to strictly control the quantity and distribution of long term commuter parking facilities" in the city centre.
This was reinforced by the City Council's 1993 traffic policy which seeks to reduce the number of private cars entering the inner city by 2 per cent a year over five years.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, said last September that the major thrust of parking policy "must be towards the restraint of commuter long stay parking spaces". And he added: "Tax incentives are obviously not designed to encourage people to drive to work."