Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. The motion speaks for itself and relates to the high cost of car parking in many public hospitals, especially for long-term patients. I wish to ask the Minister of State if the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, will consider providing car parking guidelines to hospitals or to the private companies that run hospital car parks in an effort to reduce the cost for patients with long-term illness and their families. The exorbitant cost of hospital car parking across the country needs to be addressed. I was dismayed to hear of the wife of a cancer patient who was forced to fork out €1,200 on hospital car parking in Beaumont over a six month period. A three-hour stay in the car park of Tallaght hospital costs €7.50. This is almost twice what shoppers pay at the Square shopping centre, which is a stone's throw from the hospital and which clearly has a similar value in terms of real estate. According to a recent report by the Irish Cancer Society, Dublin hospitals are the most expensive, which is logical in a sense due to real estate prices, etc. A four-hour stay costs at one of these hospitals costs €8.86 on average. At hospitals in Munster, a four-hour stay costs approximately €6.70 on average. This has a huge effect on people's lives at a time when they are extremely vulnerable. Meanwhile, only seven of the 27 cancer treatment hospitals offer weekly discounted car parking rates.

Recently, Age Action researched and produced a report on the experience of older people regarding outpatient services at University Hospital Galway. Some 68% of respondents said they found car parking charges excessive. Paying such high rates on a regular basis adds financial pressure to families and patients who are already under significant physical and psychological stress. Although a discounted rate of car parking is offered to relatives of long-term patients in some hospitals, this is not enough. As a result, I am calling for the issuing of car parking guidelines, similar to those relating to the NHS in the UK, in order to reduce and streamline the cost of parking for patients with long-term illness and their families. I am well aware that, in many instances, private companies run these car parks.We can introduce policy that will affect them by implementing some sort of regulation or at least guidelines to help families in these situations. Hospitals or indeed the companies that are allowed to franchise out or rent the land should not profit hugely at the expense of patients who are in long-term care in particular.