I will ask about hospital car parking charges. In the Cavan Monaghan hospital group, the charge to use the car park is €3 per stay, but people from my constituency who travel to Dublin can pay up to €17 to park at a hospital. Fuel, parking and food costs could add up to more than €100 per trip for someone having treatment in a Dublin hospital. I welcome the review of capping car parking charges at €10 per day, but that €10 must be per day. If family members leave the car park while another family member is still getting treatment, they must be allowed to return and collect or visit that person within 24 hours, for the same money.

I welcome that Cavan and Monaghan hospitals operate free or permitted parking that is available to specific groups, such as parents of sick children who need long-term care, the next-of-kin of critically ill patients and long-term care patients. This should be mandatory for all hospital car parks. Close family who have to travel to any hospital to visit a sick family member who may be at the end of life having to worry about a parking fee is wrong. Will the Minister's Department give a strong response on this in the upcoming review?

I thank the Deputy. He will be aware that 36 hospitals have a charge for parking, with a maximum daily rate, and another nine do not have a charge. Parking is entirely free at Bantry, Mallow, Ennis and even in St. Luke's Hospital in Rathgar. There are four hospitals where the fixed daily rate is above €10: St. Vincent's University Hospital; St James's Hospital; the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital; and St. John's Hospital. In many cases, they are in an arrangement with a private contractor. However, we are trying to limit car parking charges for patients. We are engaged in a review of it at the moment.

There is one factor I am concerned about, which is that I do not want to make car parking so accessible that people who are not using the hospital choose to use its car parking. There is a balance around that I am concerned about, particularly in inner city Dublin or inner city Cork. We are trying to provide maximum accessibility - the Deputy's suggestion is good - while making sure that car parking in hospitals is used for the benefit of patients and not third parties.