Health Minister Simon Harris has confirmed that the department is introducing a cap on hospital parking charges in 2019.

Visitors and outpatients will pay a maximum of €10 per day while there will also be special passes for frequent visitors.

The recommendations were made in a new report following a long-running campaign on the issue.

Minister Harris said hospital charges are way too expensive.

He said: "We're going to do it in 2019. Hospital parking charges in a number of hospitals are far too expensive.

"The report recommends a number of things, it recommends a daily cap, and I think that is a good thing for people who are frequently visiting our hospitals.

"€10 a day could still be far too expensive so you need to have passes for frequent visitors that would lessen the cost further."