Thought it wasn't about making money ...

Parking fines 'don't cover attendant costs'
Parking fines recovered by Northern Ireland's parking attendants do not cover the cost of employing them.
Tuesday, 23 March 2010

Almost £18m was spent on NSL Ltd, the private company which provides traffic attendants in Northern Ireland since 2006, according to figures obtained by SDLP MLA John Dallat.
Just over £10m was collected in parking fines by NSL Ltd during the same period.
Mr Dallat said the payments by the Department for Regional Development appeared excessive.

Mr Dallat said: "This appears to be an excessive amount of money and over the past two years the cost of this scheme has increased by 20%.
"Clearly the expense of this scheme needs to be controlled otherwise it (will) become an albatross around the neck of the Department of Regional Development which is already experiencing unprecedented financial strain."
But the company said the money represented best value for competitively advertised services.
The scheme cost £17.7m over three years since the financial year 2006/07. A total of £10.1m was received in penalty tickets.

Tim Cowen, a spokesman for NSL, said: "NSL is paid by the department for a range of services including parking enforcement and car park management. We do not receive any income from PCNs (penalty charge notices).
"When NSL was awarded this contract it was through a public competitive tendering process, which ensures that public authorities get the best price for contracted services."