Cork City Council announce fee hike at its two car parks

Cork City Council has imposed a price hike of up to 30% across both of its city centre multi-storey car parks, despite the national inflation rate currently standing at 3.4%.

The council had not increased parking fees in either of the car parks in four years.

The increases, which come into effect from Wednesday morning, will see one-hour parking rates in the North Main St car park increase by 30%, jumping from €2.30 to €3. Paul St will see an 11% rise, from €2.70 to €3.

Customers who park for up to two hours will pay 20% more in both car parks, with prices in North Main St rising from €4.60 to €5.50, and Paul St going from €5.50 to €6.50.

Those parking for up to three hours in North Main St will pay €8, and in Paul St they’ll pay €9.50.

Parking from 5pm to midnight will incur a flat charge of €3.50 in North Main St, and €5 in Paul St.

Prices in North Main St are up an average of 21%, while Paul St is up 19%.

There will be no increase to the on-street parking rate.

Rate of inflation

According to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the national rate of inflation is currently 3.4%.

According to the council’s own figures, North Main St’s 330 spaces enjoy a 55% occupancy rate, while Paul St’s 750 spaces have a 59% occupancy.

Social Democrats councillor Niamh O’Connor said she was disappointed there had not been greater consideration given to addressing occupancy by getting more people to park in town.

“I would have liked if we had tried to increase revenue by getting more people into the car parks rather than raising prices,” she said.

“Our two car parks are the cheapest in town for two-hour parking, which is the most popular period of time that people park, and they will still be the cheapest after the price increase, but we should be advertising that fact.

“We really need to be encouraging people to come into town, because it’s way too easy to go to a shopping centre on the outskirts of town where the parking is free.”

Fianna Fáil councillor Terry Shannon said it had been four years since there had been any price increase.

“I would prefer if there was a percentage increase every year, rather than going for one big jump which will seem harsh,” he said.

Need for more creative thinking

“I do think there is need for more creative thinking around parking, because the flat rate is a great incentive to get people into town in the evening, and we should be looking at innovations like that.”

A council spokesperson said the increases keep costs in line with inflation rates.

“It has been more than four years since charges were increased at either Paul Street or North Main Street car parks,” they said.

“The last price increase came into effect on February 1, 2022.”

They added that the Central Statistics Office’s inflation calculator showed a percentage change of “just over 19% between February 2022 and April 2026, when Cork City Council commenced its review of parking charges in its multi-storey car parks.

“Based on current pricing tariffs and having applied the CPI increase between the two periods of time, the revised figures have been rounded to the nearest monetary amount in increments of 50c,” they said.

Cork Business Association and Cork Chamber were asked for comment.