Parking fine bonanza of almost €2m for Cork County Council

Nearly €2m in parking fines has been collected across Cork county since the start of 2020, with the majority issued in Kanturk, Mallow, Bandon, and Kinsale.

A total of €1.9m in fines was issued from January 1, 2020, to July 21 this year, data provided to The Echo by Cork County Council has shown, with the amount of the fines increasing year-on-year.

A total of €123,710 was paid in East Cork, €252,590 in Cobh, €49,680 in Blarney and Macroom, €251,965 in West Cork, €501,610 in Kanturk and Mallow, €231,775 in Fermoy, €448,388.98 in Bandon and Kinsale, and €68,860 in Ballincollig and Carrigaline.

Cork County Council provides parking in towns across the county, and parking fines are administered centrally, through its parking fines office, with traffic wardens employed directly by the council.

Both traffic wardens and An Garda Síochána enforce laws relating to illegal parking, with the figures provided by Cork County Council relating only to fines issued by the council.

Parking fines must be paid to local authorities within 28 days of the date of the fixed-charge notice being issued.

Failure to pay within the allotted 28 days results in the charge increasing by 50%. If the fine is unpaid after a further 28 days, court proceedings are initiated.

Figures previously provided to The Echo showed that, in the first six months of this year, 350 fines were issued in relation to illegal parking in disabled bays, marking a 14% increase on the 307 fines issued in relation to the same issue in 2024.

Fixed charge notices (FCNs) issued by gardaí for parking or stopping in a disabled parking bay, as previously revealed by The Echo, show that there were 98 fines in Cork county in 2023, 90 in 2024, and 30 in 2025 to the end of June — a 33% decrease which a Cork councillor theorised at the time was due to a lack of garda resources.

In comparison, fines collected by the local authority have increased each year.

The total figures across the county equate to €202,790 in 2020, €249,565 in 2021, €311,805 in 2022, €423,228.98 in 2023, €468,785 in 2024, and €272,405 in 2025 so far.

The amount paid in the first 202 days of the year to July 21 equates to an average of €1,348.50 a day. This suggests fines could reach a total of €492,217 by year’s end, which would mark a slight increase from when the daily average was €1,280.80 in 2024.

There was a 131% increase from 2020 to 2024 and, if the local authority continues collecting fines at the same rate this year, there will be a further 5% rise, bringing the six-year increase to 143%.

This year, €70,055 has been collected from parking tickets in the Kanturk and Mallow areas — the highest total in the county — followed by €61,145 in Bandon and Kinsale. This was followed by €38,375 in parking ticket payments in Fermoy, €36,890 in West Cork, €28,180 in Cobh, and €25,200 in East Cork.

LOWEST

The areas with the lowest amount in parking fines were Blarney and Macroom with €4,900, along with Carrigaline and Ballincollig with €7,660.

In 2024, Kanturk/Mallow also saw the highest number of fines issued at €118,825; followed again by Bandon Kinsale with €93,910; Fermoy with €71,595; Cobh with €70,695; West Cork with €55,345; East Cork with €36,220, Ballincollig and Carrigaline with €14,630; and Blarney/Macroom at €7,565.

Similarly in 2023, Kanturk Mallow saw €110,485 in fines paid; followed by €106,093.98 in Bandon and Kinsale; €61,410 in Cobh; €60,805 in Fermoy; €33,605 in West Cork; €23,560 in East Cork; €16,295 in Ballincollig and Carrigaline, and €10,975 in Blarney and Macroom.

Of the total over the last five-and-a-half years, €1,364,560 was paid online, €447,740 was paid at cash offices, and €116,278.98 was paid in other ways.