Car parking charges

The cost of cancer hits families particularly hard due to the double whammy of having a reduced income while struggling with increased expenses.

In our engagement with patients and carers, a cost that is often referred to is that of hospital car parking.

The Irish Cancer Society has been campaigning for the abolition of these charges for close to a decade.

Car parking is an unavoidable cost that affects over 8 in 10 cancer patients. This rises to 9 in 10 families if a child is diagnosed with cancer.

In the Programme for Government there is a commitment to: “Introduce a cap on the maximum daily charge for car parking for patients and visitors at all public hospitals, where possible. Introduce flexible passes in all public hospitals for patients and their families.”

As it stands, there is no standardised approach to hospital parking and a lack of consistency in what cancer patients can expect to pay while they attend tests and treatment. Not only is there a huge disparity in the actual charges applied, but also in the manner by which patients can access information about where concessions might exist in the first place. This is causing additional stress and anxiety to patients and their loved ones at a time when they are already vulnerable.

While some hospitals have abolished or reduce car-parking charges for cancer patients, this is not the case in every cancer-treating hospital

Read our Hidden Cost of Hospital Car Parking for Families report

As evidenced by our heatmaps, there are huge geographic disparities across Ireland in what patients around the country are being asked to pay.

The Irish Cancer Society is calling for a national policy on hospital car parking.

This information was verified by the Irish Cancer Society as of September 2023. If you identify any errors or would like to update the information provided here, please email advocacy@irishcancer.ie.