The Government wants the HSE to implement recommendations dating back eight years to limit hospital car parking charges to €10 per day.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said the HSE would carry out a national review, due to be completed in the first quarter of next year, of the parking fees, which generated €17.8 million last year.
In a letter to the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee, she said four hospitals around the country currently charged more than €10 per day for patients and visitors.
Committee chairman and Sinn Féin TD John Brady has previously said St Vincent’s hospital in Dublin has the highest car parking charges, with a daily cap of €17.
In her letter, the Minister said the HSE review would look at “relevant matters including the balance between affordability measures and broader reductions in charges; the financial implications of any proposed changes, and sustainable funding options where required”.
Carroll MacNeill said Department of Health secretary general Derek Tierney had written to the HSE chief executive Anne O’Connor asking that it give effect to key outstanding recommendations arising from a review of car parking charges carried out in 2018.
“This includes progressing the recommended maximum daily charge of €10 and ensuring that flexible passes, multi-entry arrangements or appropriate concession arrangements are available across all hospitals,” she said.
“The Department will continue to engage with the HSE as this work progresses, including in relation to the practical options identified by the review group and any next steps arising from its work.”
Figures provided in response to a parliamentary question last month show that more than €73.5 million has been generated by hospital car park fees since 2020.
Cork University Hospital (CUH) brought in the highest revenues in this period (€11.97 million), followed by St James’s Hospital (€8.83 million) and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin (€5.96 million) and University Hospital Limerick (€5.92 million).
Carroll MacNeill said the HSE maintained that revenue from hospital car parks was used for a range of purposes, including the maintenance and upgrading of parking facilities, repayment of loans associated with such upgrades, investment in site security and, where relevant, support for the overall hospital budget.
The Programme for Government pledges to “explore further ways to reduce hospital car parking charges” and the HSE has said it wants to ensure the recommended maximum daily charge of €10, alongside flexible, multi-entry and concession arrangements, are “in place across all hospitals”.
Carroll MacNeill said the latest review would “build on” the 2018 exercise and “examine relevant matters including the balance between affordability measures and broader reductions in charges”.
It would also assess “the financial implications of any proposed changes, and sustainable funding options where required” and site-specific issues such as “infrastructure, demand pressures and contractual arrangements”, she added.