Laois County Council Must Install Paid Cash and Card Parking Meters in Fitzmaurice Place
Laois County Council Must Install Paid Cash and Card Parking Meters in Fitzmaurice Place
FOLLOWING a number of recent smash-and-grabs on cash meters at Fitzmaurice Place and on Mountrath Road, Laois Co Council is being urged to reinstall a card-and-cash metre at Fitzmaurice Place.
Portlaoise Independent councillor Caroline Dwane Stanley brought the proposal to the latest meeting of the Portlaoise municipal district and received the following response from the area office: "The roads department has a temporary car parking machine installed at the car park following the recent vandalism; we have now arranged for the purchase of new machines and can confirm that these will take both card and cash."
Cllr Dwane Stanley expressed her recent shock upon hearing that the parking metre at Fitzmaurice Place had been so brazenly ransacked, along with other outlets on Mountrath Road and understood that this had necessitated the removal of the cash accepting machine at Fitzmaurice Square in favour of one that only takes card; less chance for thieves to crack it open and profit. However, the councillor also cautioned that a substantial number of people use and, indeed, prefer cash.
The councillor said: "There’s a lot of people who use cash who are very nervous about using a bank card because they are afraid their bank card could be scammed or anything like that and it's vital and important that people have the option of both cash and card …. It’s a vital service that car park down there is used an awful lot, mainly by workers living in the town."
The motion was seconded by Fine Gael’s Paddy Buggy.
Asked for a specific timeframe, a representative from the area office said that the public could expect the installation of an in-full metre within the coming few weeks.
