Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am more than happy to chase that up. Many hospitals have arrangements whereby patients coming in for serious treatment get a card to avoid car parking charges entirely. It is different for different hospitals but if the Deputy sends me the details I will look into it.

An important measure brought in for the budget for next year, which was warmly welcomed and advocated for by the Irish Cancer Society, was the abolition of inpatient charges. Many cancer patients face bills. Not only are they dealing with the stress and trauma of their treatment and of living with cancer, but they can end up with a bill for €800 for their time in hospital in a given year. As of next year, that is being completely eradicated. It is one of the things we are doing to reduce costs across the board for patients.

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