Sinn Féin party demand end to hospital parking charges

A call to end hospital car parking charges won unanimous support at the June meeting of Monaghan County Council. A Sinn Féin motion called on Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, to remove pay parking requirements at hospitals, branding such charges “an unfair tax on sick people, their families and frontline workers”.

The motion also asked the Minister to make good the revenue hospitals lost from the fees’ removal to avoid any service diminution.

Cllr Paul Gibbons (SF) in moving the motion said he is being approached by constituents incurring considerable and unsustainable parking expenses when accessing Dublin hospitals for chemotherapy treatment or to visit serious ill family members. The costs can range from €10-€16 per day and disproportionately impact the people who can least afford them, Cllr Gibbons stated. “Patients and their families must not be seen as revenue streams,” the SF representative insisted, “and the principle of health care being free at the point of contact can’t end at the hospital car park.”

Cllr Sinéad Flynn, who seconded the motion, said the charges place an unfair burden on families already facing significant financial pressures.

It’s the responsibility of the Health Minister to provide adequate funding for hospitals, she said. Her colleague, Cllr Seán Conlon highlighted an Irish Cancer Society report from five years ago, which detailed the extensive transport costs on cancer patients.

“Cumulatively, the parking charges are a severe burden on families,” Cllr Conlon told the meeting.