A proposal to cap hospital car parking at €10 a day does not go far enough, a campaigner has argued. 

Today, Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill told Newstalk Breakfast that there is a “balance to be struck” on the issue. 

She said there 45 hospitals around Ireland, nine of which do not charge for parking. 

Minister Carroll MacNeill noted that only four charge more than €10  a day and the Government is reviewing the issue. 

On Lunchtime Live, Bernard Mulvaney from Access for All said a €10 daily charge for hospital car parking is still unaffordable for many people. 

“If you're a person with a long term illness, if you're somebody who's just recently got a diagnosis or for whatever reason, you have extended periods of time where you're going to be spending a lot of time in hospital, it should be zero,” he argued. 

“There should be no charge to park your vehicle in the car park.” 

Mr Mulvaney added that as a carer, he receives the maximum Carer’s Allowance is €270 a week, which he describes as a “very small amount of money” to live on. 

“We do spend prolonged periods of time in hospital,” he said. 

“So you're spending €10 a day, like that €70 a week - that quickly adds up. 

“That's a fair chunk out of your €270 a week.” 

Mr Mulvaney continued that even people who have income other than Carer’s Allowance, might get into financial difficulties paying for hospital car parking during an illness. 

“At this stage, I think it's really lazy to say €10 a day capped when someone who, for whatever reason, has to spend so much time in hospital,” he said. 

“If it's a diagnosis or whatever it may be, they might have to step away from work for a period of time.

“It's a lot of money.”

Main image: A hospital car park. Picture by: Kumar Sriskandan / Alamy.