Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 30 Jun 1998

Vol. 493 No. 3

Written Answers. - Tallaght Hospital.

Liam Lawlor

Ceist:

287 Mr. Lawlor asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will contact the authorities at Tallaght Regional Hospital in relation to the absence of adequate car parking facilities at the hospital which has left nurses with the choice of either paying car parking fees at the hospital or parking at the Tallaght shopping centre which would entail a 15 minute walk to and from the hospital. [15968/98]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

Provision was made for 659 parking spaces at the new hospital in Tallaght as part of the original building project. This number was in line with planning regulations at that time. Due to the large increase in car ownership since the plans were finalised, the Department agreed in 1997 to a proposal from the hospital for the development of a 500 space public multi-storey pay car park for patients and visitors which would bring the total number of spaces on site to 1,000.

Due to a continued presence of the builders on site, some 470 spaces are currently available for staff. The policy of the hospital is that availability of car parking on site should be as equitable as possible based on need rather than grade or position. Priority is given to on-call staff and to shift workers who start or finish their work outside normal hours and to those staff who need their cars during the day for work purposes. The hospital estimates that the number of staff spaces available on site will increase by at least 100 over the next few months. The hospital management recognised that there would be further demand from staff for parking over and above the spaces currently available and have negotiated an arrangement with The Square Shopping Centre for the dedicated use of 300 secure spaces in levels 5 and 6 of its multi-storey car park from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Friday. The hospital has also arranged that a free shuttle bus will run every ten minutes between the Square and the main hospital entrance from 6.45 am to 8 p.m., Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and from 12 noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. There is no doubt that parking spaces available for staff and public at the new hospital is a marked improvement on the facilities available at the base hospitals. It is understandable that some people will take time to adjust to the situation at Tallaght but I am satisfied that management at the hospital will ensure that the needs of staff and patients will be met in the most equitable manner.