The HSE has ordered a review of hospital car parking charges after the amount of money being collected by public hospitals has more than doubled over a four-year period.
New figures show that €17.76 million was collected from parking fees at public and voluntary hospitals in 2025. That compares with €7.39 million in 2021, representing a 140% increase. Since the beginning of 2020, a total of €73.5 million has been collected through hospital parking charges.
The HSE says the review will examine why parking revenue has increased since 2020 and will look at developing a more nationally coordinated approach to charges.
At present, there is no single national system for hospital car parking, with individual hospitals operating their own arrangements.
The review will consider whether charges should be reduced more widely or whether measures such as capped rates and concession schemes could make parking more affordable for patients and their families.
It will also examine the financial impact of any changes and how they could be funded.
The HSE says it will look at the different circumstances of individual hospitals before deciding how any new approach could work.
It will also consider whether reducing charges could have unintended consequences, such as making hospital car parks more attractive to people who are not attending the hospital and potentially reducing spaces available for patients and visitors.
The review will be led by HSE National Director and Head of Strategic Health Infrastructure and Capital Delivery Brian O’Connell.
However, the decision to launch another review has been criticised by the chair of the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee.
Brady said patients and their families should not have had to wait so long for action on hospital parking charges.
“The fact that the HSE has now ordered a new review of hospital parking charges, eight years after the last review was ordered by Simon Harris, is a damning indictment of the Government’s failure to tackle this issue.”
“Patients and their families should not have had to wait eight years for action while more than €73m has been taken through hospital parking charges between 2020 and 2025.”
He said the charges were particularly difficult for people who have to attend hospital regularly for cancer treatment, chronic illnesses and other serious conditions.
There are currently 36 hospitals charging for parking across the country. The maximum daily charge is €10 or less at all but four of these hospitals. St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin has the highest daily rate at €17. Parking is free at a further nine hospitals.
The HSE has previously pointed to the return to normal hospital activity following the Covid-19 pandemic as one reason for the increase in parking revenue since 2021.
The Department of Health has said work is already taking place to reduce the burden of parking charges, in line with a commitment made in the Programme for Government.
It said the Department of Health Secretary General and HSE CEO are engaging directly on the issue to identify further ways of reducing charges for those most affected.
The Department also said most hospitals already have some exemptions or concessions in place, including flexible day passes, multi-trip entry and concessions based on the type of patient.
There is currently no deadline for the completion of the new HSE review.
