12.— (1) The following sections are inserted after section 36 of the Road Traffic Act 1994:

“Bye-laws for restriction on parking — specified events.

36A.— (1) A road authority may, in respect of a specified event or events (such as a sporting or entertainment event) at a specified venue or venues, in the interests of safety of road users and preventing traffic congestion, make bye-laws in accordance with this section for the purpose of prohibiting or restricting the parking of mechanically propelled vehicles on all public roads in specified areas or on a specified public road in its functional area.

(2) Bye-laws made under this section shall specify—

(a) the event and venue to which the bye-laws apply,

(b) the nature and description of the event,

(c) the public road or area to which the prohibition or restriction applies,

(d) whether a prohibition or restriction on parking applies,

(e) the period of the prohibition or restriction on parking, and

(f) the mechanically propelled vehicles, or classes of such vehicles, to which an exemption from the prohibition or restriction is to apply.

(3) Where it is proposed to exempt mechanically propelled vehicles from the application of bye-laws made under this section in accordance with subsection (2)(f), the bye-laws shall specify—

(a) the persons who may acquire the exemption,

(b) the conditions, if any, to be applied in respect of the exemption,

(c) the means of identification of mechanically propelled vehicles that are to be subject to the exemption,

(d) the manner of keeping or display of the means of identification on the vehicle, and

(e) the fee, if any, payable to the road authority concerned in respect of the exemption.

(4) Where bye-laws made under this section provide for an exemption to the prohibition or restriction to be imposed, the road authority shall provide, on application, the means of identification referred to in subsection (3)(c) to a person who may acquire the exemption.

(5) Different bye-laws may be made under this section—

(a) in respect of different areas within the functional area of a road authority,

(b) in respect of different classes of vehicles,

(c) for different circumstances, and

(d) in respect of different periods of time.

(6) Where a road authority makes bye-laws under this section it shall provide a regulatory traffic sign specified in regulations made under section 95(2) of the Principal Act to indicate the application of the bye-laws.

(7) The traffic sign referred to in subsection (6) shall—

(a) be provided on the road or on all roads at the entrance to an area to which the bye-laws apply, and

(b) in advance of the operation of the bye-laws, be accompanied by an information plate indicating details regarding the date or day and period of the operation of the bye-laws.

(8) Before making bye-laws under this section, a road authority shall—

(a) consult with the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána,

(b) publish a notice in one or more newspapers circulating in the area to which the bye-laws relate and, where the road authority considers the event to which the bye-laws relate is of national importance, in one or more newspapers published in and are circulating in the State—

(i) indicating that it is proposed to make bye-laws under this section,

(ii) indicating the times at which, the period (being not less than one month) during which and the place (being a place within their functional area) where a copy of the draft bye-laws may be inspected,

(iii) stating that representations may be made in writing to the road authority in relation to the draft bye-laws before a specified date (which shall be not less than 2 weeks after the end of the period for inspection), and

(iv) stating that a copy of the draft bye-laws may be purchased on payment of a fee, if any, not exceeding the reasonable cost of making such copies,

and

(c) before deciding whether to make the bye-laws and determining their content, consider any observations made to them by the Commissioner or any representations made to them under paragraph (b)(iii).

(9) The making of bye-laws under this section and the consideration of observations or representations under subsection (8)(c) is a reserved function.

(10) As soon as may be after the making of bye-laws by a road authority under this section, notice of their making and of the place where copies of them may be purchased, obtained or inspected shall be published by the road authority in—

(a) the Iris Oifigiúil,

(b) one or more newspapers circulating in the area to which the bye-laws relate, and

(c) where the road authority considers the event to which the bye-laws relate is of national importance, one or more newspapers published in and circulating in the State.

(11) Where a mechanically propelled vehicle, not exempted under bye-laws made under this section, is parked on a public road at a time immediately in advance of the coming into operation of bye-laws made under this section applying to the road, the vehicle must be removed from that road before the commencement of the operation of the bye-laws as indicated by the traffic sign referred to in subsection (7).

(12) (a) A person who contravenes a bye-law made under this section or who does not comply with subsection (11) is guilty of an offence.

(b) Where, in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle, there is a contravention of a bye-law under this section or a failure to comply with subsection (11), each of the following persons is guilty of an offence—

(i) the registered owner of the vehicle,

(ii) if the vehicle is the subject of a hire-drive agreement on the occasion in question, the person to whom the vehicle is hired under the agreement, and

(iii) if the person who parked the vehicle is not its registered owner or the person to whom it is hired under a hire-drive agreement, the first-mentioned person.

(13) Where a person charged with an offence under subsection (12) is—

(a) the registered owner of the vehicle concerned, it is a defence for him or her to show that the vehicle was being used on the occasion in question by another person and that—

(i) such use was unauthorised, or

(ii) the vehicle was on that occasion the subject of a hire-drive agreement,

or

(b) a person to whom the vehicle concerned stood hired at the time of the commission of the offence, it is a defence for him or her to show that the vehicle was being used on the occasion in question by another person and that such use was unauthorised.

(14) Any fees paid under this section shall be disposed of in such manner as the road authority concerned may by resolution determine.

Inspection of permits.

36B.— (1) A member of the Garda Síochána or (other than for the purposes of paragraph (b)) a traffic warden may request the driver or person in charge of a vehicle—

(a) parking the vehicle in a place where restrictions or prohibitions on parking apply, or

(b) entering, driving on or otherwise using or leaving a road where restrictions or prohibitions apply to a vehicle,

under regulations or bye-laws under this Part, to allow the inspection by the member or warden of a permit exempting the vehicle and, if applicable, the driver or person, from the restriction or prohibition.

(2) Where a member or warden inspecting a permit under subsection (1) is of the opinion that—

(a) the permit is no longer in force,

(b) the permit does not apply to the circumstances or vehicle in which it is being used,

(c) the person using the permit is not entitled to use it, or

(d) the permit is altered or forged,

he or she may detain it.

(3) Where a permit is detained under subsection (2) and it is subsequently shown to be valid it may be returned to the holder or suspended or revoked as the local authority or person issuing it sees fit according to the circumstances of the matter.

(4) The driver or person in charge of a mechanically propelled vehicle who—

(a) fails to keep or display a permit or other means of identification as specified in the permit or regulations made under section 35 or bye-laws made under section 36 or 36A, when the vehicle to which the permit relates is being driven, parked or otherwise being used by the person under it in respect of the exemption or permission concerned,

(b) uses a permit other than in accordance with its terms or conditions, or

(c) fails or refuses to allow or obstructs the inspection of a permit under this section,

is guilty of an offence.

(5) When the driver or person in charge of a mechanically propelled vehicle who contravenes subsection (4)(a) or (b) is not the registered owner of the vehicle but authorised to drive or use the vehicle by the owner and the vehicle is not the subject of a hire-drive agreement, then the registered owner is also guilty of an offence.

(6) In this section—

‘permit’ means a permit issued under regulations made under section 35 or the means of identification of an exempted or permitted vehicle specified in bye-laws made under section 36 or 36A;

‘traffic warden’ means a traffic warden within the meaning of the Local Authorities (Traffic Wardens) Act 1975 or section 103 (19) (inserted by section 11 of the Road Traffic Act 2002) of the Principal Act.”.

(2) Section 42 (inserted by section 10 of the Road Traffic Act 2006) of the Road Traffic Act 1961 is amended, with effect from the commencement of the said section 10—

(a) in subsection (2)(p), by inserting “and the disposal of such fees” after “licence”, and

(b) in subsection (4), by deleting “, in particular and without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1),”.

(3) Section 101B (inserted by section 9 of the Dublin Transport Authority (Dissolution) Act 1987 and as amended by section 49(1)(j) of the Road Traffic Act 1994) of the Road Traffic Act 1961 is amended—

(a) in subsection (2), by substituting “35, 36 or 36A of the Road Traffic Act 1994” for “35 or 36 of the Road Traffic Act 1994”, and

(b) in subsection (8)(b), by substituting “section 35, 36 or 36A of the Road Traffic Act 1994” for “section 35 or 36 of the Road Traffic Act 1994”.

(4) The Road Traffic Act 1994 is amended—

(a) in section 2(1), by substituting for the definition of “reserved function” the following:

“ ‘reserved function’ is to be read in accordance with section 131 of the Local Government Act 2001;”,

(b) in section 35—

(i) in subsection (2), by substituting for paragraph (t) (inserted by section 26(1) of the Road Traffic Act 2004) the following:

“(t) the issue of a permit by a local authority, or any other person authorised by the Minister in the regulations, subject to any terms or conditions attached to the permit as prescribed in or permitted by the regulations, for the purposes of—

(i) exempting the permit holder from restrictions or prohibitions on parking applied under this section,

(ii) permitting the parking of a vehicle by the permit holder at specified locations, or

(iii) exempting the permit holder from the application of prohibitions and restrictions applied under this section to specified traffic from entering or using specified roads,

upon payment of a prescribed fee, if any, and the disposal of such fees and different fees may be prescribed in respect of different classes of permits.”,

and

(ii) by deleting subsections (7) and (8) (inserted by section 26(2) of the Road Traffic Act 2004).

(5) Section 5(1) of the Road Traffic Act 2006 is amended in paragraph (c) by substituting “millilitres” for “milligrammes”.

(6) The Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2006 and this section may be cited together as the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2007.