Car parks earn millions for hospital

THE public have directly contributed close to €2.5 million to the running of Galway’s public hospitals over the past three years simply by parking their car.
Figures reveal that last year alone Galway University Hospital received €850,000 as result of parking charges in the public car park on its grounds. The surface car park is run by a private contractor on behalf of the hospital for an annual management fee of just over €39,000.
In 2011 the net income from parking charges amounted to €743,984. This jumped by over €100,000 in the space of two years to €852,702 in 2013.
Patients and visitors have complained about the long delays often experienced due to the shortage of public car parking spaces at the busy hospital.