A local Sinn Féin TD wants free parking available at all hospitals across the country.
It comes as the Health Minister is considering implementing a 2018 review of parking charges which recommended a maximum daily price of 10 euro.
Last month the HSE ordered a similar review into the issue, after parking fees more than doubled since 2021.
Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan told the KCLR Daily that fees should be phased out completely but for now she wants measures to help ease the financial burden on patients and their families.
She says people attending hospitals should not have the added stress of worrying about parking fees, while she questioned the value for money that such costs offer.
The Sinn Féin TD stressed that people need to be made more aware of the flexible parking passes that are available, similar to what’s on offer at St. Luke’s hospital in Kilkenny. She believes that it is unfair that people should have to search for these flexible passes.
However, Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan concluded that though flexible passes could offer some relief, ultimately paid parking at hospitals should be abolished;
