'Farcical and incompetent': Expect jam-packed hospital car parks in weeks ahead after Stormont unintentionally abolishes parking charges

Due to a complicated series of legislative manoeuvres and delays, it will temporarily be free to park at all hospitals for a few weeks this month, exacerbating an existing lack of spaces at some.

The TUV (one of the four parties not in government in Northern Ireland along with the Greens, People Before Profit, and the SDLP) described this as “incompetent” and "farcical", saying that it shows that Stormont cannot even get "the very basics of good governance" right.

The chain of events leading up to this goes back to 2021, when Sinn Fein's Fra McCann brought forward the Hospital Parking Charges Bill to abolish all health trust parking charges.

This, he said, "will reduce the burden on patients and visitors who are already physically, psychologically, and financially impacted by the experience of ill health" as well as hospital workers, "many of whom the member notes are underpaid".

Although some MLAs (like the DUP's Trevor Clarke and UUP man Alan Chambers) raised misgivings during the bill's journey towards becoming law, it appears to have been almost totally unopposed; the bill passed its crucial second reading and its final reading without the need for a formal vote.

Originally, parking charges were meant to be abolished six months after the bill became law.

But in March 2022 health minister Robin Swann had amended the bill so there would be a two-year grace period before it kicked in, not a six-month one.

This was because "at present there is not enough space to provide free parking for everyone" so it would take time to "deal with capacity" issues.

The bill passed into law in May 2022, and the date on which this two-year grace period is due to end is this Sunday (May 12).

Northern Ireland's governing parties agreed last month that this grace period should be pushed back another two years to 2026 – but that means a new law has to be passed, and it isn't ready yet.

The Department of Health today said that this "should be in place by the end of May".

In the meantime parking will be free, and so the department has “concerns that an increase in demand for parking during this limited free-of-charge period could lead to congestion at some hospital sites, potentially contributing to delayed or missed hospital appointments" – and asks patients to plan accordingly.

It added that “the department does not have control over Assembly passage or the Royal Assent process” (the means by which bills become law).

Reacting to this news, the TUV said: "This farcical situation underscores the incompetence of Stormont and its inability to deliver the very basics of good governance.

"In the closing days of the last mandate a raft of legislation was rushed through by the Assembly with no thought for its impact upon the public purse.

"The folly of doing so is now coming home to roost.

"Far from assisting the public in accessing the health service, it is anticipated that this particular measure may well end up causing problems in accessing services, perhaps in cases when an appointment has been waited for months."