Hospital car parking move under fire

CAR parking charges at Kerry General Hospital have been doubled to €2 per hour.

But the €1m estimated income from parking charges will not be used to fund frontline medical services. Instead, it will be expended on upgrading car parking facilities at the acute hospital.

Cllr Tom Fleming, a member of the HSE (South) forum, said he was disappointed with news that the health authorities were not going to use the opportunity to put the money to greater use elsewhere.

The HSE has informed him that it made €429,148 from parking charges at the hospital in Tralee last year — based on a charge of €1 per hour. The doubling of the charge means the HSE should raise close to €1 million over the next 12 months.

HSE officials said the volume of traffic at the hospital requires careful management. They said the income derived last year was spent on day-to-day running of the car park, the maintenance contracts for barriers and pay machine, as well CCTV monitoring, cleaning and erecting signs.

Mr Fleming was told the increased revenue will be used for further upgrading the car park, including new entry and exit lanes, and new equipment “for smoother management of the public car park”.

However, the HSE didn’t specify the nature of the new equipment.

“Going by what I am told by the HSE, all the money will be going to the car park. I believe, with such a sizeable increase in revenue coming over the next 12 months, a good percentage of that should have gone into medical services within the hospital which are in need of financial assistance. The car park seems to be in reasonably good condition,” Mr Fleming said. “If there was a benefit for medical services, then I am sure that people wouldn’t mind paying the increased parking charges.”

While some people are angered by the rise, Mr Fleming pointed out that the hospital authorities did offer concessions for people who might have to visit loved ones on a very regular basis. “There is a concession rate of €35 per week, which allows unlimited time over the seven-day period. There is also a concession of €20 per week for people visiting patients in the rehabilitation unit. Those patients would be there on a long-stay basis.”