DUBLIN City Council is to be asked to bring in independent engineers to examine traffic proposals around Croke Park which have been going "back and forth" for nearly two years with no sign of resolution.

The dragged-out process, aimed at controlling parking around the stadium on match days, has been delayed by public consultation reports, committee meetings and continued variations to the proposed by-laws.

It is now hoped that an independent third party may be able to examine the suggestions and speed up their implementation some 23 months after they were first mooted.

Legislation was introduced to allow for the by-laws in around April 2007. The following September, it went before a special policy committee (SPC) and later to a public consultation phase.

The by-laws are now due to go back before an SPC in April where it will be established if any more changes to the laws are required, but the council has confirmed that it is far too early to estimate when, if ever, the proposals will come into force.

In a bid to speed up the introduction of the by-laws and safeguard the interests of residents, Dublin City Council is to be asked to allow an independent specialist consultant to review the proposals at a meeting next month.

"There are stadiums all over the world that have dealt with large volumes of people and have introduced residents-only parking," said Councillor Mary Fitzpatrick who is pushing for independent consultants to be brought in. "Croke Park attracted over 2.5 million people last year alone. It is a world-class stadium and we need world-class parking facilities. Dublin City Council can't just walk away from that."