New figures show over one million euro in parking charges has been collected at University Hospital Limerick in the space of a year.
Parking at the Dooradoyle facility is operated by a private provider and is capped at ten euro per day, but new HSE data shows it’s one of the highest amounts collected in the country in 2017.
Private providers at Galway University Hospital, meanwhile, exceeded that figure with in excess of 1.4 million euro collected, while overall, hospitals across the country gathered 22.4 million euro in revenue from parking.
Sinn Fein’s Health Spokesperson Louise O’Reilly – who obtained the data through a parliamentary question – says it’s an unfair charge on people who have no choice but to attend hospital.
Statement from UL Hospitals Group
There are no parking charges for patients and visitors at Ennis Hospital, Nenagh Hospital, Croom Hospital and University Maternity Hospital Limerick.
University Hospital Limerick (UHL) applies the following fee structure:
00 – 20 minutes free
20mins – 1 hour €2.00
1 hour – 2 hours €4.00
Each additional hour or part thereof €1.00 Maximum 24hr charge €10
Parking management services at UHL are contracted out to the specialist provider Euro Car Parks.
Patients accessing the MidWestern Cancer Centre at UHL are exempt from parking charges. The vast majority of patients coming to UHL for dialysis are offered a free transport service and the issue of parking fees for this group of patients does therefore not arise.
UL Hospitals has recently introduced a new policy on free car parking to support families of patients who are seriously ill, at end-of-life and those who have passed away. Concessionary car parking for parents/guardians of children in hospital has been in place for a number of years.
