Patients and families 'under pressure' with hospital parking fees

DEMAND Charges should be eliminated for those with long-term illnesses - Smith

“Hospital visits are difficult at the best of times and for patients who require continued treatment have enough pressure without the additional costs connected with car parking charges,” said Fianna Fáil’s Áine Smith.

Calling for an end to hospital parking charges, especially in light of recent comments by Minister Stephen Donnelly who said he was cognisant of the financial implications for patients and their families, particularly for those with long-term illnesses, Cllr Smith made the call at the December monthly meeting of Cavan County Council.

She revealed how she recently spoke to a woman who estimated paying €200 a month in parking fees at the Mater Hospital where parking costs up to €15 a day.

“When things are tough and your back is against the wall with a sick parent or a sick child, the last thing you should have to think about is parking. Between September to January, she worked out she paid over €1,000 on parking alone. This is a huge burden on families and patients,” said Cllr Smith.

She further cited a 2021 Irish Cancer Society survey that found families of children with cancer were paying, on average, over €200 per month on parking.

Cllr Smith continued that, for years, people with long-term conditions and their families “have been promised” by successive government that measures to combat high fees in hospital car parks would be introduced.

A commitment to address hospital parking costs was included in the 2020 Programme for Government, she reminded, before stating: “Yet despite promises, these measures have not materialised.”

Offering her support to the Irish Cancer Society campaign, started in 2016 to curb costs, she noted that in a ICS report published in August 2022 – The Hidden Costs of Hospital Car Parking for Families - parking charges were described as “one of the most unjustifiable expenses that families face”.

“It is not the first expense that comes to mind but it quickly takes a toll on families who are already struggling to make ends meet,” said Cllr Smith, who acknowledged that the HSE does provide transport to people receiving dialysis, and since Covid, when the risk of infection made shared hospital transport inadvisable, gave those who wanted to manage their own transport a mileage allowance.

“But it is a national flat rate and does not take parking costs into account,” she said. “It can be difficult for a patient to maintain their travel independence and provide a potentially cheaper option for the HSE.

“I do acknowledge that the hospitals would suffer if they weren’t getting car parking funds but I would hope that the government would make up that shortfall.”

Her motion was supported by Fine Gael’s TP O’Reilly and Independent Brendan Fay who said “people shouldn’t have to worry about the extra stress” of paying for parking.

Clllr John Paul Feeley (FF) said eliminating parking charges was a “key issue”.

Cllr Peter McVitty (FG) agreed with the motion. He said some GPs provided a letter, but still the cost of parking in Dublin was often exorbitant. There was support too from Cllrs Winston Bennett and Trevor Smith (FG), Patricia Walsh and Aiden Fitzpatrick (FF) and Cathaoirleach Philip Brady.