Hospital Parking Fees must be addressed in Budget 2026
Hospital Parking Fees must be addressed in Budget 2026 - The Labour Party
- Nearly €19m raised last year from discretionary parking fees.
- 7 hospitals take home over €1m in car parking fees.
- Cork University Hospital had the biggest takings with over €2.3m.
Labour’s social protection spokesperson and Kildare South TD Mark Wall said Government must move to abolish all parking charges for all public patients and healthcare staff in the forthcoming Budget.
Deputy Wall said:
“Millions are being collected every year from patients and their families at public hospitals across Ireland when they use parking facilities. Abolishing these is a measure previously recommended by the Irish Cancer Society. Figures revealed to me show an eye-watering amount of money taken in annually by our major hospitals for parking.
“It’s deeply unfair. So many people are already struggling to get the care they need and nobody is taking a day trip to a hospital. The thoughts of parking your car, most likely in a panic, only to come back to pay a massive parking ticket is just wrong.
“Healthcare staff like nurses and midwives who have worked long shifts may not have been able to access public transport and had to commute long distances with the only transport option being a car. This needs to be addressed.
“Whether you’re attending the hospital for yourself, for a family member, for a sick child, the cost of going to these appointments can add up fast. This is before we even look at the cost of fuel, food and other essentials.
“Why are we penalising people for being sick? I implore with the Minister for Health to address this once and for all in Budget 2026. We’re not talking about small sums of money here.
“Cork University Hospital took in a truly astronomical €2,334,183 in parking fees in 2024 alone. University Hospital Waterford took in €1,194,334.84 from parking tickets, and University Hospital Limerick, a hospital we all know have extremely long wait times, took in €1,411,400 last year. It’s crazy stuff.
“The cost of living crisis has become permanent under Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, it’s permeating every aspect of Irish life, from childcare, to housing, transport and to health. Abolishing car parking fees at our hospitals would be a very small, but very important measure, to reduce the burden on people trying to access basic healthcare.”
ENDS
The full list of returns is available here. The top 7 are:
- Cork University Hospital had the biggest takings with €2,334,183
- St Vincent’s University hospital – NET €1,594,000
- Tallaght University Hospital – €1,590,000
- St James’ University Hospital – €1,675,826
- University Hospital Waterford €1,194,334.8
- University Hospital Limerick – €1,411,400
- Galway University Hospital – €1,134,994
Excel Sheet with breakdown of receipts: https://labour.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/PQ-24633_25-Deputy-Mark-Wall.xlsx