'Illness tax' reaps millions
Hospital visitors and patients pay dearly for car parking
PATIENTS and visitors are shelling out millions of euro to hospitals in car parking fees every year.
The controversial charges -- which have been labelled a "tax on illness" -- are generating high revenues.
Cork University Hospital and Cork Maternity Hospital raked in a combined €2.8m in car parking income last year -- up from €2m in 2007.
An Irish Independent investigation has found that most public hospitals now impose parking fees, saying it is one way of preventing people who have no business at the hospital from taking space needed by patients and visitors.
Clamped
But there have been cases of patients being clamped after they exceeded the hourly charge limit.
Stephen McMahon of the Irish Patients' Association said his organisation heard constant complaints about the charges.
"They (hospitals) are also failing to actively bring the possibility of a discount for some patients and visitors who face difficult circumstances".
The charges leave people who have to attend hospitals regularly, or visit sick relatives over weeks or months, with bills running into hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of euro.
Parking income in University College Hospital in Galway last year topped €926,513, leaving €584,568 in surplus after staff and other costs were paid.
In Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinsloe, income grossed €222,717, leaving a net profit of €212,468. In Kerry General Hospital it soared to €858,392, leaving €730,000 after costs.
Tullamore Hospital took in €388,954 from parking, while Portlaoise Hospital got €373,382.
Revenue from the car park at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin over the past four years has totalled more than €3m. It received €819,595 in 2008.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) allows hospitals to set their own charges, so for those attending Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda the cost is €3, regardless of length of stay.
A person staying overnight in Sligo General Hospital will pay a maximum of €4 but it is €10 at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown in Dublin and €20 at Limerick Regional.
Some hospitals have arrangements with private operators to run the car parks.
But none of them could provide documentation setting out how the surplus funds were spent or how patient care benefited from the income.
A number of them gave a standard reply: "Income from car parking charges form an integral part of the hospital's budgetary policy which contributes to the provision of service.
"Income is also used to fund the upgrade and upkeep of the car parks, security cameras, management systems and car park staffing."
Parking charges will soon rise further as the Department of Finance gives the go-ahead to 21pc VAT in the coming months -- and several hospitals are examining new hikes to make up for cuts in government funding.
A recent report on the costs faced by cancer patients found that even when a hospital gave a car parking subsidy to a man on €185 a week he still had to pay €12 a visit.
Discounts
A spokesman for the Irish Hospice Foundation said: "While at the bedside of a dying loved one parking costs can run up significantly. They are high and sometimes relatives are not alerted to discounts for long stays, indeed if there are such discounts.
"Sometimes bereaved people and those about to be bereaved cannot find a car park space when they arrive at a hospital in a rush. Maybe there should be a space allocated for such."
Hospital parking fees can be double those faced by motorists who park just a few streets away.
St James's Hospital in Dublin charges €2.40 an hour with a daily cap of €13.20 -- but, according to Dublin City Council, it is situated in a low-demand area and the hourly cost of street parking nearby is just €1.
- Eilish O'Regan
Irish Independent
