Debate contribution: Hospital Parking Charges Bill: Consideration Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Carroll on 23 April 2024.

MLA

Mr Gerry Carroll

Party at the time

People Before Profit Alliance

Date

23 April 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Hospital Parking Charges Bill: Consideration Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4485155

Read the official Assembly record

Text

He still is one. He said that he is disappointed about the delay. Again, his party and others are disappointed about the delay, but they are voting for it, which does not really add up. There will be a continuation of the charges for at least two years. I say "at least", because who knows what the new Health Minister will decide and what state our health service will be in in years to come? Mr Donnelly also talked about pressures on the Department. I repeat that £400 million was spent on agency staff last year. Compared with that, £6 million or £10 million is miniscule. The money is there, but the Department, in many ways, is prioritising things in the wrong direction. Alan Robinson talked about the large figure paid by junior doctors. It would be remiss of me not to talk about the fact that their pay has been reduced and that they are overworked. For them, the parking charges really add insult to injury. The Minister said that the system will be in place in the coming weeks, with, amongst other things, equipment being ordered. He said that, if my amendment is made, there is a significant risk that the system will not be in place on 1 September. I respectfully say to the Minister that work needs to continue at pace to speed up the implementation of the system. We have had two years to get this correct. Leaving aside the court case and the legal challenges, I sincerely ask what has been done over those two years. Hospital parking charges are an unfair tax and revenue-raising measure. We heard Members say that it is an important revenue-raising measure in the context of budgets being squeezed. Here we have the absurdity and unfairness of it all. We have huge, out-of-control waiting lists that the public are told to stomach and underpaid health and social care workers, some of whom are on welfare, who, to put the cherry on top, have to continue to pay to go to work for at least another year but possibly two years or longer. In a different context during COVID, some decisions were made quickly. Departments did not always make the right decisions, but those decisions were made quickly. It is beyond belief that it will take some four years to implement the system that Members voted through. I have heard of a snail's pace, but that really takes the biscuit. There was some allusion to a bogeyman argument that people might park in hospital or health centre car parks if they were free — people just parking there for the craic. There is no evidence of that; no data has been provided. Two years ago at the Health Committee, I asked departmental officials for that evidence, and it was not provided. That argument does not recognise the fact that, despite charges already being in place, people who work in hospitals and healthcare centres have to park off-site. There is a wider point being made by some Members and Ministers about investment in public transport. I urge them to get on with that at speed. I ask the House to support amendment Nos 1 and 3, which are in my name.

540 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:03 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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