Students in St James’s are paying higher parking fees than students on the main Trinity campus, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) council has heard.
The union’s Mature Students Officer Ailis Smith told council this evening that the discounted parking rate for staff and students in the Fleet St car park does not extend to the St James’s campus.
Fleet St parking costs €10 per day due to an agreement struck by College, but St James’s on-campus parking costs €15 for a day.
TCDSU Welfare and Equality Officer Sierra Müller-Owens and Smith will now draft a motion to resolve the disparity.
Addressing council, Smith said that “not all students can live in Dublin” and that some have to commute by car.
“I know it’s a green campus and we want people to use public transport”, she added.
“It’s very unfair … Inflation cost of living is high enough as it is.”
TCDSU President Leah Keogh added that she was “very happy to be pulled in” on the issue.
Smith’s discussion item read: “It costs students €15 a day to park their car at St James Hospital. Some students cannot afford to live in Dublin and there is limited access to public transport for them, so they have no alternative but to drive to college.”
“Hospital staff have discounted rates, but students do not. Students should be able to avail of the discounted rates for parking. Full car park rates are a further financial burden to
students.”
St James’s is the main teaching hospital for Trinity. College is also partnered with Tallaght University Hospital.
The Trinity St James’s Cancer Institute was the first of its kind in Ireland. The institute was the first Irish cancer institute to be accredited by the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes.
The National Cancer Registry estimates that the incidence of cancer in Ireland will increase by 100 per cent in 2040 based on population changes. Despite improvements in cancer treatment in Ireland, rates of survival for many types of cancer remain below comparable developed countries.
