Over €375k in hospital parking charges last year

Patients forked out some €375,000 for car parking charges at Tullamore hospital last year.

The Dublin Midlands Hospital Group has said “The income generated from car park is an important stream of funding to ensure continued provision of services at MRHT.”

Patients and visitors to the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar are paying more in car parking charges than those using the other midland hospitals.

A breakdown of the charges provided to members of the HSE at their monthly meeting in Tullamore last week showed that it at the Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore, it costs a maximum of €5 for a full day (more than 12 hours), €1 covers up to three hours' parking; €4 is charged for periods from 3-6 hours.

There is a significant demand for car parking at all hospitals,” wrote Mary Day, CEO of the IEHG.

“Consequently,” she continued, “the efficient management of parking spaces and traffic flow on She explained that this was to ensure on-going availability of parking spaces; free flow of traffic on campus; unobstructed access for emergency vehicles at all times; proper use of spaces designated for drivers with disabled permits; and proper use of spaces designated as drop off points near the hospital entrance.

“Income from car parking charges in most statutory hospitals and some voluntary hospitals forms an integral part of the hospital's budgetary policy and is invested back into services provided at the hospitals,” Ms Day stated.

She added that income is also used to fund the upgrade and upkeep of the car parks, including security and management systems.

“There are no guidelines on hospital parking and each hospital/hospital group implements their own guidelines,” she said.

The income generated through parking charges at Mullingar hospital was not given, but the response from Trevor O'Callaghan, CEO of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group revealed that the Midland

Regional Hospital Tullamore generated €400,302 in revenue from the car park in 2016 and €375,762 in 2017, while at Portlaoise, car park receipts for 2017 amounted to €317,430, while the 2016 figure was €322,017.