Cork University Hospital down 570 on-site car-park spaces

Cork University Hospital (CUH) has lost 570 on-site car-park spaces over the past three years. Their number will be further reduced by the building of new wards.

CUH spends millions of euro on off-site parking, which has increased 183% in just three years, the HSE’s communications and public affairs manager, Ann Martin, told the Dáil’s public accounts committee.

Ms Martin said that CUH management “recognises that car-parking availability on the hospital campus is significantly constrained”.

The loss of car-park spaces is due to new developments on the site, including a surgical hub, helipad, and paediatric centre. An action group set up in January 2023 is working on solutions, said Ms Martin, but these will require significant investment and take several years to deliver.

Short-term measures, such as off-campus car parks for staff to ‘park and walk’ and ‘park and ride’ have been implemented. 

As a result, parking capacity has increased slightly since early 2023, but with a major shift away from on-site parking. The proportion of spaces on site has fallen from 82% to just 52%.

On-site parking in January was down 34% compared with January 2023, while off-site parking was up 183%. Staff parking on site has dropped from 1,022 spaces to 408 over the three-year period. However, off-site staff parking has risen from 370 to 1,048 spaces, for an overall rise of 5% in parking provision.

Public parking has also increased slightly, rising by 6%, from 667 spaces in 2023 to 707 in 2026, all on site.

Engage with potential providers 

Ms Martin said the HSE has approved a 1,100-space off-site car park and will engage with potential providers on additional capacity later this year. A multi-storey, on-site car park, with a minimum of 500 spaces, is included in the HSE Capital Plan 2026, but construction is not anticipated before 2028.

Future capital developments, including new ward blocks, will further reduce on-site parking, meaning delivery of these projects “is essential”, Ms Martin added.

The hospital also provided figures on car-park revenue, which is used to fund the upkeep, security, and staffing of CUH parking facilities.

Any surplus was historically reinvested in patient care. Since 2023, however, parking-related expenditure has exceeded income due to investments in additional parking projects.

The hospital’s income from paid parking, largely public, rose from €1.4m in 2020 to €2.7m last year, with just under €12m in total parking revenue between 2020 and 2025.

More parking revenue than any other hospital

CUH generates much more revenue from parking than any other hospital in Ireland — more than 35% higher than St James’s in Dublin, which has the second-highest intake.

Between 2020 and 2022, €3m was generated from parking. However, from 2023 to 2025, there was a combined loss of €1.3m. 

New expenditure in this time includes €5m in coach hire for park-and-ride transport, as well as four new car-park leases: €400,775 for Cork City FC Bishopstown Stadium; €191,880 for Parking People (Lee Auto Centre); €40,590 to O’Flynn’s Group; and €15,121 to Solas Financial.

Existing car-park leases at Highfield Rugby Club and Bishopstown GAA club also saw costs increase from 2023, with a total of €663,850 and €246,187 spent over the six-year period, respectively.

Other parking expenditure includes maintenance, security, payment systems, signage, and ICT services.

Overall, CUH has spent €10.3m on parking.