Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 633: To ask the Minister for Health in view of the fact that there is to be 972 car parking spaces allocated to the proposed national paediatric hospital at the Mater site in Dublin, whether he expects this to be enough to accommodate approximately 6,000 persons, including staff, patients and visitors, who will use the hospital every day; and if he will bear in mind that parents transporting tertiary level patients are mostly unable to use public transport. [34713/11]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 634: To ask the Minister for Health the action that will be taken to accommodate those persons attending the proposed national paediatric hospital at the Mater site, Dublin, especially with tertiary level children, who cannot find a parking space; and whether they will be obliged to take the chance of being clamped, as is the case at present. [34714/11]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 635: To ask the Minister for Health in view of the views of the European Association for Children in Hospital Charter, whether parents should not need to incur additional costs or suffer loss of income while their child is in hospital; how he will ensure that parking costs will not be an issue for parents whose children are in hospital at the proposed national paediatric hospital at the Mater site, Dublin, in the long term. [34715/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 633 to 635, inclusive, together.

In order to assess the amount of car parking which is required to adequately serve the demand generated at the National Children's Hospital, the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board carried out a multi-factor analysis which was based on a wide variety of information including the following:

An examination of the parking levels at a number of existing national and international hospitals;

Data based on physical, on-site hospital surveys and data identifying patient numbers, arrival and departure patterns, duration of stay and numbers of vehicles generated by patients; and

Current national and international policies regarding sustainable development and Dublin City Council Development Plan standards.

It is important to note that of the 972 car parking spaces proposed, over 75% are to be reserved for patients/visitors, with the remaining 236 spaces provided for staff. The low level of staff parking will be facilitated by the implementation of a mobility management plan at the hospital which will put in place a number of strategies and measures to increase awareness of the abundance of public transport and cycle/pedestrian facilities locally and encourage their use.

In relation to the question of car parking for persons attending the Hospital with tertiary level children, this is not considered likely to be problematic by the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board given the amount of parking being provided on the new site. The construction of the new adult hospital on the Mater campus will include a 447 space car park, which will significantly improve parking locally. When combined with the children's hospital, this will give a total of 1,419 parking spaces at the overall Mater campus.

In relation to the question of car parking for persons with long-term critically ill children, the plan is to provide a number of free car parking spaces for parents of these children and the Ronald McDonald House charity is working to provide accommodation for these parents.