Hospital loses €250,000 as staff boycott parking fees

CASH-STRAPPED St James’s Hospital has lost up to €250,000 this year by postponing staff parking charges after a strike threat over a proposed €10 weekly charge.

Unions warned that they would cripple the hospital with work stoppages if any member had to pay to park their cars.

The stand-off may have a knock-on impact on the planned new National Children’s Hospital on the St James’s site.

Health managers backed off from their proposed charge for 898 parking places reserved for employees. Patients and visitors must pay over €15 for a five-hour stay in an underground car park.

Two months ago, An Bord Pleanála set 17 conditions when granting permission to develop on the St James’s campus. One of the conditions is that children’s hospital staff should not be allowed use any of the 675 spaces reserved for patients’ families and visitors between 7am and 7pm.

This weekend, hospital bosses confirmed they had not introduced the parking charges announced at the end of last year. Public sector unions Impact and Siptu demanded that free parking be retained as an employee perk. At €10 a week, the charge would have brought in an estimated €500,000 a year for the hospital.

Management have been unable to finalise their ‘mobility management plan’, which will also impact on the development of the children’s hospital. It already has Luas and Bus Éireann buses running through the campus, making it the best served hospital for public transport in the State.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said management was continuing to engage with staff and unions over the parking charges.