Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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6. To ask the Minister for Health what actions his Department is taking to lower car parking charges at hospitals in circumstances where car parking charges are currently at unacceptable levels and waiting times in hospitals can mean that undertaking a CT scan can cost a patient €15; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25065/24]

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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We are bringing up again - this has been brought up a great deal - car park charges for patients. It remains a major cost and burden on sick people accessing our hospitals to obtain acute care. We need to see a strategy from Government that will bring these costs down. I thank the Minister.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. I took another look into the current state of play when I received the question in preparation for this morning. The figures are as follows. There are 36 public or voluntary hospitals, 33 of which now charge €10 or less for parking. The Deputy quite rightly points to the figure of €15, which certainly can be a lot for parking, particularly for someone who is already dealing with the pressures and difficulties of having to be in a hospital in the first place. The good news is that only three hospitals of the 36 charge up to €15, which is good. They are St. Vincent's University Hospital, the Mater and St. James's Hospital. I have asked my Department to engage with those hospitals. What we are being told is that in many cases, the hospitals do have schemes for patients. For example, where there is somebody coming in to visit a relative on a daily basis, they can give them free access or a big discount on the access.

Speaking to the Deputy's point, someone who is coming in for a CT scan may just be coming in once so they will not have any agreement in place. They may have to pay the €15. We have taken many steps in recent years to reduce hospital costs. We abolished inpatient charges entirely. That was costing up to €800 per year for an individual. We have included CT scans and made them free for a patient directly referred by their GP. This has two benefits. Previously, somebody might have had to wait for months to go into a hospital for the CT scan, or they could have chosen to pay privately, which could be very expensive. It is now completely funded by the State, so you can go into one of the private providers or one of the State hospitals.

I acknowledge that even though we have reduced healthcare costs for people pretty radically, this €15 charge is real and it can be difficult for people. We are going to engage with these three hospitals to see what more can be done.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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I thank the Minister. That is good to hear. There are different costs in the various hospitals. As the Minister knows, there will be sick people who might have treatments in different hospitals. There is no uniformity to it. I acknowledge progress has been made and costs have come down and I want to acknowledge the work of the Irish Cancer Society and others with respect to their advocacy on car park charges. However, there are still anomalies and costs for people such as those I have outlined in my question with regard to CT scans.

The cost of care and the cost of being sick in this country are still very high. Much of this lies outside our care system in the context of people’s diet and everything we had previously. The cost of disability report highlighted a great deal in this regard. If we had uniformity in car parking charges, people accessing our hospitals would know the amount they are going to pay, whether they are in Castlebar, St. James Hospital, Cork or wherever. That said, I acknowledge the progress which has been made.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. In nine hospitals, car parking is free. We have a bunch which charge up to €10 and then we have those three hospitals to which I referred. The latter will, understandably, tell us that this is all well and good but they need money to make it up. It is reasonable for them to state that there would be a funding shortfall in the context of the provision of healthcare services if the fees were lower. This is something we can certainly look at. We can run the numbers on what it would cost these three hospitals to reduce the charge from €15 to €10. Indeed, the hospitals will say that, much of the time, €15 is okay for a many people when they are coming in. It costs us approximately €300 to provide a CT scan. These scans are provided because the State funds them. Some of the hospitals may say that many people who are coming to get State-provided healthcare are okay with paying €15. However, there are others who simply cannot afford it. Rather than just bringing the charge down, we must ask if there is a different way of doing it. Certainly, the guiding principle must be that healthcare must always be affordable. Cost cannot be a barrier. We will continue to look at this matter.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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Okay.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Tá muid ag dul ar ais go dtí Ceist Uimh. 5 in ainm an Teachta Gino Kenny.