A SINN FÉIN TD has said it is 'absolutely scandalous' that hospital car parks in Ireland have collected more than €73m since 2020.
John Brady, who is Chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), described the charges as a stealth tax being used to plug funding gaps.
In 2025 alone, €17.8m was collected from car parking charges at Irish hospitals, more than double the €8.1m collected in 2020.
Mr Brady said patients were being hit in the pocket during a cost-of-living crisis, with those who attend hospital regularly, such as cancer patients, most affected.
“The Minister for Health must now act without further delay to bring about reductions in hospital parking charges," he said.
'Stealth tax'
The TD’s comments came after the Irish Independent revealed that €73m had been collected in hospital car parking charges between 2020 and 2025.
After €8.1m was collected in 2020, there was a slight dip the following year, with €7.4m in 2021.
However, the figures show a significant increase year-on-year since then, with €10.6m collected in 2022, €13.4m in 2023, €16.2m in 2024 and €17.8m in 2025.
Mr Brady said the information exposes the scale of the financial burden being placed on patients and families as well as highlighting the government's failure to act on a long-standing issue.
"I was absolutely taken aback when I saw the figures that over €73m has been taken in through hospital parking charges in recent years," he said.
"This is money being taken directly out of the pockets of patients and their families at a time when people are already struggling through a deep cost-of-living crisis.
"This in effect amounts to a stealth tax.
"This is not confined to any one hospital, this is an issue affecting people in every county who rely on our health services.
"Patients attending appointments, often for serious and long-term conditions, are being hit again and again with charges simply for accessing the care they need.
"It is particularly impacting those undergoing cancer treatment and others who must attend hospital on a frequent basis.
"These costs quickly add up and place a very real financial strain on individuals and families."
'Systemic problem'
Mr Brady said he believed the charges were being used to plug funding gaps, with patients being hit in the pocket to make up shortfalls.
This was particularly irksome, he said, given previous government pledges to tackle the issue.
"These figures also come at a time when we see several hospitals highlighting massive funding shortfalls of tens of millions," he said.
"This points to the systemic problem with how hospitals are funded — with hospital parking charges seen as a source of revenue to plug gaps.
"It's even more remarkable when you consider that as far back as 2018, the then Minister for Health Simon Harris took on the issue of hospital parking charges and ordered a national review.
"A commitment was also made in the most recent Programme for Government to explore ways to reduce these charges, yet years later patients are still waiting and the burden is getting worse."
Mr Brady added that Sinn Féin has consistently called for reducing and capping such charges.
He wants to find a solution that will ultimately abolish parking charges for patients and ensure that 'access to healthcare is not determined by a person's ability to pay for parking'.
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