Mayo TD calls for phasing out of hospital car parking charges

Sinn Féin TD for Mayo, Rose Conway-Walsh, has called for the phasing out of hospital car parking charges at Mayo University Hospital (MUH), saying patients and families should not be charged simply because they need healthcare.

Figures provided by the HSE to Sinn Féin show hospital car parking income at MUH rose from €60,811 in 2021 to €178,867 in 2025 — a 194 per cent increase.

Deputy Conway-Walsh said hospital car parking fees amount to a charge on being sick and on visiting family and friends in hospital.

She said patients with no public transport alternative, and no option but to drive to MUH for vital cancer treatment or scheduled appointments, are being hit with parking fees that add up over time and place an additional financial burden on people at an already stressful time in their lives.

"No one chooses to be sick or to have a sick child in hospital. Yet patients and families across Mayo are being asked to pay these charges again and again," she said.

Deputy Conway-Walsh said people with disabilities, carers and families visiting loved ones in hospital are also affected, and described the situation as unacceptable.

"We can see that the amount being raised through hospital parking has increased dramatically, but our hospitals should not have to depend on money collected from sick people and their families to provide parking," she said.

She said while it is vital that hospitals have sufficient parking facilities for patients, visitors and staff, it is past time the fees were phased out.

Deputy Conway-Walsh called on the Government to provide replacement funding to facilitate the phasing out of the charges, with a view to eventually abolishing them, while ensuring hospital parking remains available for everyone who needs it.