Young children left in the back seat of a car were towed away in two separate Dublin city centre incidents.
The cars were towed by Dublin Street Parking Services, the firm contracted by Dublin City Council to enforce parking rules. Both of the incidents occurred in April.
In the first incident, a vehicle in Dublin 7 was lifted with a two-year-old child in the back seat. The mother chased after the truck "screaming" before they stopped.
A four-year-old child was in the back of another car that was towed from the Fairview area to Ballybough before the truck driver realised the child was in the back seat. There was a garda response to the incident, Dublin Live understands.
Read more: Pensioner renting driveway to Dublin Airport users who can't find parking
One source said these are not isolated incidents and blamed DSPS's policy of "rewarding" employees for clamping a high number of cars.
They said: "These are not isolated issues. If you reward staff for clamp number achieved this is the result. DCC are well aware of the reward scheme."
DCC confirmed the incidents took place but added that policies have changed to prevent children being towed away.
A spokeswoman said: "DCC are aware of the issues raised and have engaged with DSPS regarding this, a meeting was also held between DSPS and An Garda Siochana to review the procedures in place for when a vehicle is being removed. Following this review additional safeguards are now in place to help prevent any reoccurrence of this issue."
Dublin Live has contacted the DSPS for comment.
READ NEXT:
Join our new WhatsApp community! Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.
