More than £7.5m in parking fines are currently unpaid, while almost £10m in fines were written off in the last five years.
The fee for penalty charge notices (PCNs) is set at £90, reduced to £45 if paid within 14 days, and each year tens of thousands are issued here.
As of the end of January, 63,272 fines worth £7.56m were outstanding. Non-payment can result in a vehicle being clamped or the debt being collected through the Enforcement of Judgements Office.
Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins said her department’s PCN recovery rate is 85%. Her predecessor John O’Dowd “agreed a number of actions to be taken forward by the department to help increase the levels of debt recovery from PCNs”.
Figures released this week also reveal the amount in parking fines that have been written off in recent years.
Over the 2019/20 financial year, £220,000 in fines were waived, compared to £1.31m in the last financial year.
From 2019/20 to the end of 2023/24, a total of £9.96m in PCNs were written off.
Ms Kimmins said: “The level of fines written off fluctuates annually depending upon the number of cases where recovery procedures have been fully exhausted and is subject to funding availability.”
Almost £10m in PCNs were written off in the last five years. Credit: Jonathan Porter/Presseye
DUP MLA Michelle McIlveen has raised concerns about this money being “lost” at a time when public services are under severe financial pressure.
“Right across our public services, all departments are rightly highlighting the pressures they face,” she said.
“In those circumstances, the least the public will expect is that efforts are made to collect money that is owed. We are seeing issues across other departments where public money is being written off over £6m in social housing rent arrears and £64.3m in rates arrears.
“Parking issues are regularly highlighted by many businesses in towns across Northern Ireland and how it can hinder their ability to attract customers. That is far worse if we see parking fines not being pursued.
“This is a different issue from where a fine has been successfully appealed. It is also unfair to those people who park responsibly and to those who pay a penalty when it is issued for them to see £1.31m written off in the last year and nearly £10m across the last five financial years.
“While inevitably there will be cases where there is no prospect of recovery, it is incumbent on the public sector to ensure that all steps are taken to ensure recovery or to identify the stumbling blocks to recovery and address these.”
Up to the end of last September, 96,626 PCNs were issued in Northern Ireland. Almost half (44,145) were handed out in Belfast.
A further 10,798 were issued in Derry City and Strabane, while 8,101 were handed out in Newry, Mourne and Down. In 2023, a total of 138,491 PCNs were issued, compared to 124,414 in 2022.