A car which has not been moved in five years cannot be classified as abandoned, according to Waterford Council.
The car which has no tax, insurance nor NCT, is parked on a public street outside the owner’s home, and so cannot be considered or treated as abandoned.
This explanation came in reply to Cllr Frank Quinlan at the Council meeting for the Metropolitan Area for April. Cllr Quinlan was frustrated by the response.
“I actually successfully logged many [abandoned cars] over the last few years, this particular one has caused a bit of a stir,” explained Cllr Quinlan.
“I was told the car is parked but it is actually abandoned. It hasn’t been taxed, insured or NCT’d in over five years. There’s moss growing under it. It’s taking up valuable car parking space where parking is at a premium. It is causing residents a lot of upset for the simple reason that the car is not after being moved,” he said.
Cllr Quinlan went on to quote the Council website which prohibits the abandonment of vehicles, and provides local authorities which the authority to remove, store or dispose of vehicles they deem to be abandoned.
“I was told that they are not removing it,” Quinlan continued. “Because the owner said they are putting it back on the road. I can’t understand how that would be the case for the simple reasons it is not after being moved in five years.”
In response to this a representative of the Council said: “Abandoned means vehicles that are left by their owner. In the scenario you are discussing it is outside the owner’s house. You can’t say a car has been abandoned when it is parked outside the owner’s house”.
“There is no time limit on how long the car is parked—there is no law that says you can only park for a certain period of time, unless it is a paid parking area. The matter of whether it is taxed or insured is not a matter for the Waste Management Act.”
Cllr Quinlan pushed back against this, referring the representative back to the Council website which describes the powers afforded to the Council to deal with abandoned vehicles.
“You can’t say a car is left by its owner if it is outside the owner’s house,” the council official reiterated.
This disagreement came shortly before the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland called for all vehicles in Ireland to have mandatory continuous insurance.
This follows the MIBI’s latest research into the level of uninsured vehicles on Irish roads. At the end of last year there was a total of 211,371 uninsured or unregistered vehicles operating in this country, which represents approximately 6.5% of the vehicle fleet. That correlates to approximately 1 in every 15 vehicles using our roads.
This includes a total of 105,429 uninsured private vehicles in 2025, compared with 101,881 in 2024. That is 3,548 more uninsured private vehicles than had been operating the year before, which represents a 3.5% increase on that figure.
The MIBI believes these uninsured numbers could be significantly reduced if a Continuous Vehicle Coverage model was introduced. Such a system is already being used in 25 European countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and many more.
AARON KENT
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
