New Aontú Bill to End Hospital Parking Charges for Many Patients

NB

Please see the Bill and the Explanatory Memorandum attached.

Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín TD has submitted a new Bill to the Dáil which if passed would see the end of Hospital Parking Charges for many patients. The Bill seeks to end Hospital Car Parking charges for many patients attending out-patient services in public hospitals.

Speaking on the launch of the Bill today, An Teachta Tóibíón stated;

“Paying car parking charges when you are attending out patients services or emergency services at your local hospital is an additional stress and pressure for many people. These charges are especially financially hard on patients such as cancer patients or patients who are critically ill who many have return regularly for hospital treatment. Paying Hospital parking charges on the same day as getting a diagnosis of cancer can be emotionally very difficult.

The Irish Cancer Society has campaigned for a cut in hospital car parking charges. Their “Real Costs of Cancer” report in 2016 stated that 80% of patients were paying at least €60 a month. Incredibly parking charges can be as high as €4 an hour in some hospitals”.

“In 2018, the then Minister for Health Simon Harris announced a review of hospital car parking charges. The recommendations from this review have never been publish. It was suggested that hospital car parking charges were due to be capped at €10 a day yet my understanding is many hospitals have not complied with this. Some hospitals have provided discounts to Cancer Patients on the back of the Irish Cancer Society campaign but knowledge of these discounts is not widespread”.

“Before the last election Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and Labour promised either to cap Hospital car parking charges or provide free parking for patients yet this has not happened yet. Patients cannot wait for the government to get it together to finally resolve this. The Aontú Bill provides for an entitlement to free parking for up to three hours in the carpark of a public hospital, where an occupant of the vehicle is attending the hospital to receive out-patient services. We urge the TDs of other parties to support the Aontú Bill through the Dáil as fast as possible”

Explanatory Memorandum re Hospital Parking Bill 2021

Hospital Parking Bill 2021

The Irish political system is radically broken

In Ireland the vast majority of elected representatives put a finger in the air to check which way the political wind is blowing. They have one eye on their leaders – seeking brownie points – and another eye keeping their seat safe. If elected reps shut up and do as they’re told, they are promoted; if they stand up for what they believe in, they are demoted. No wonder we have the political class we have. No wonder one point one billion euro is being buried in a hole under the National Children’s Hospital and that Stormont is in stalemate.

Throughout Ireland, many people are now afraid to say what they feel, many are afraid to respectfully engage on a range of different topics. Many feel there is a new censorship and a new political correctness in Ireland, that opposition to the establishment is being deleted.

Respectful opposition is not the enemy. Respectful opposition is a critical element of a functional democracy. Aontú will have the backbone to stand up, without fear, for you.