Hospital parking fee cap of €10 ordered by Government

The limit was first recommended eight years ago

The Irish Times reports that the Government has ordered the HSE to cap hospital parking at €10 a day.

Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said four hospitals still charge more than that, as she set out the figure in correspondence to the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee.

How the hospital parking fee cap would work

The HSE will carry out a national review into the charges, MacNeill said.

It is due to finish in the first quarter of 2027, and the fees generated €17.8 million last year.

The committee's chairman, Sinn Féin TD John Brady, has pointed to St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin. Its daily cap runs to €17.

Department of Health secretary general Derek Tierney has written to HSE chief executive Anne O'Connor, asking her to act on recommendations left outstanding since a 2018 review.

"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," Carroll MacNeill said.

Why the parking review matters to patients

According to the HSE, parking revenue covers maintenance of car parks and loan repayments.

It comes as the Government finalises other Budget 2027 measures.

These include hints that the fuel excise cut is staying for households already watching costs rise.

Carroll MacNeill has faced pressure on other fronts too, after Irish MEPs wrote to her over AI chatbots sending women in crisis to anti-abortion websites.

Since 2020, the service has collected more than €73.5 million from hospital car parks, a parliamentary question showed last month.

Cork University Hospital brought in the most at €11.97 million, while St James's Hospital, Beaumont Hospital in Dublin and University Hospital Limerick followed behind.