Carol Nolan urges end to hospital parking fees for cancer patients
Carol Nolan called for the elimination of hospital car parking fees for cancer patients and praised the Irish Cancer Society's nurse line, saying the financial burden on patients and families must be addressed. She said she has engaged with the Minister for Health and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and continues to press for specific measures.
Commendation of Irish Cancer Society
Carol Nolan commended the Irish Cancer Society for its information services and the dedicated nurse line, describing it as professional and essential for guiding patients and their families in constituency offices.
Engagement with ministers and local meetings
She said she has raised the issue for a number of years and in September engaged directly with the Minister for Health and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Nolan also recounted a meeting with Irish Cancer Society representative Siobhan Hayes in County Leish that informed her advocacy.
Specific policy proposals promoted
The Irish Cancer Society has sought a provision of €5 million to public hospitals to reduce car parking charges for cancer patients. Nolan also highlighted calls to lower the drugs payment scheme cap to a maximum payment of €100 a month and €72 a month for single-headed households.
Impact and next steps advocated
Nolan argued the stress and challenges created by car parking fees are solvable and that policymakers should prioritise tackling the financial cost of cancer care for individuals and families. She urged colleagues to take the proposed changes on board to reduce the emotional, psychological and financial burden on patients.
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I want to begin by commending the Irish Cancer Society for the great and fantastic work that they do all year round every year. I know that I deal with many families of loved ones who have received shock diagnosis and I do want to commend the Irish Cancer Society in terms of the information they provide but also the dedicated nurse line which I believe deserves a special mention here this morning. It's very professional and without it even in our constituency offices we would be at a loss as to where to direct patients and families. Cancer always comes with a cost be that emotional, psychological or indeed financial but the degree of that financial cost and the impact it has on individuals and their families is something that we can all do something about here. I have been raising the issue of eliminating hospital car parking fees for cancer patients for a number of years now. In September last I engaged with the Minister for Health and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform as part of my efforts to have public hospital parking charges for cancer patients abolished. This followed a meeting I had in my constituency with a representative from the Irish Cancer Society, Siobhan Hayes, who is based in County Leish. The Society has been advocating for the provision of €5 million to public hospitals in order to reduce the cost of car parking charges for cancer patients for cancer patients. It has also called for a reduction in the drugs payment scheme cap to a maximum payment of €100 a month and a maximum payment of €72 a month for single headed households. I believe that those changes need to be taken on board. It was very clear to me following my meeting with the Irish Cancer Society that the stress and challenges created by car parking fees have to be tackled once and for all. It is very doable and that we should all endeavour to resolve.
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