Cork hospitals take huge hit in parking charge revenue due to Covid-19 pandemic; services may be hit by income losses

Information obtained under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act revealed that Cork University Hospital (CUH) collected over €2.8m in hospital car park charges, while over €438,000 was paid in parking costs to the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH), for the whole of 2019.
This year however, the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic impacted hospital attendances, ensuring the intake for the first six months of 2020 is just over 8% of last year’s total.
Over €235,000 was paid to CUH for parking between January 1 and June 31 this year.
Cork TD Donnchadh O’Laoghaire (SF) warned this loss of revenue could impact the ability of hospitals to deliver vital services.

He said: “The last few months would have seen less people attending our hospitals but it also saw the introduction of free parking for staff, which is something Sinn Féin was very active in calling for and we believe needs to continue in the long run.”