The parking at UHW is an ongoing complaint, as the numbers attending the hospital seem to increase steadily while the parking capacity remains much as is has been for years.
From those arriving on time for an appointment only to be made late due to no available parking, to those being charged to walk a loved one to the door, to all kinds of vulnerable drivers who frequent hospitals, inadequate parking can complicate the hospital experience of anyone who is obliged to attend.
While this state of affairs continues, parking charges result in increased revenue for the hospital.
Figures released to TD David Cullinane show that parking revenue at UHW has risen by 158% in four years, with UHW taking in €1.2m in revenue from parking charges in 2025.
In 2021 UHW’s parking charge revenue was less than €469,000. This massive increase has provoked criticism from the Sinn Féin TD who also services as his party’s spokesperson on health.
“These figures show a very significant increase in the amount being collected from hospital parking in Waterford,” he said.
“Parking income at the hospital has increased from less than €470,000 in 2021 to more than €1.2 million in 2025. That is an increase of €742,000, or 158%, in just four years.”
TD Cullinane suggested that it should be kept in mind the kind of people who actually fund these increased revenues.
“We have to remember who is paying these charges. It is patients, families, carers, visitors and staff,” he said.
“It is cancer patients going for treatment. It is people going for dialysis. It is parents bringing a sick child to hospital. It is people with disabilities and carers who may have no alternative but to drive.”
He also explained that hospitals are relying on parking revenue because they are not being receiving adequate funding.
“This is also a national problem. Across the State, hospital parking income has risen from €7.4m to almost €18m since 2021. The HSE says parking charges are used to meet the cost of providing and maintaining car parks, including security, staffing and maintenance.
“My view is simple. Hospitals should be properly funded by Government and should not have to depend on income collected from sick people and their families. We need a national plan to phase out hospital parking charges, starting with those who have to attend most often cancer patients, dialysis patients, parents of sick children, people with disabilities, carers and families dealing with long hospital stays,” Deputy Cullinane said.
“Hospital parking charges are a charge on illness. Patients should be focused on getting better, not on feeding a parking meter,” he added.
AARON KENT Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
