Carlow Kilkenny TD Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere calls hospital parking charges ‘a tax on the sick’

St Luke’s General Hospital for Carlow and Kilkenny has taken in just over €1.2 million in car parking fees over the past three years, prompting a local TD to propose that the cost of parking should be reduced for vulnerable and frequent users.

Fianna Fáil’s Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere says both the Department of Health and the HSE must examine how targeted supports can be introduced to reduce what he has described as “a tax on the sick”.

It currently costs €4 for those availing of the facility and Deputy Cleere told KCLR News’ Dermot Keyes that there’s been a 10% year-on-year increase in collected parking charges there;