Parents of young children receiving the Covid vaccine have slammed authorities for charging them to park their cars while attending clinics.
Hundreds of parents of children in the 5-11 years age bracket queued at Dublin’s RDS for the vaccinations today.
However, many were left annoyed after being forced to pay out €2 to park their cars at car parks at the RDS.
Hundreds more were forced to queue outside in the cold with their children after being asked to leave the centre after complaints by some people.
Catherine Delaney, a mother of two from Cabinteely, accused those responsible for “cashing in” on the pandemic as "mean hearted".
“I was in a hurry to make sure to get queueing in time with my two kids. It’s bitterly cold out.
“We had a look around the streets in Ballsbridge, but there was no parking. We were delighted when we saw the sign for car parking and thought at least the HSE had got that right.
“But when we were asked for €2 to park our car, so our children could be vaccinated against this virus I simply thought ‘Somebody is cashing in here.”
They’ve made hundreds if not thousands of euro today on the backs of people trying to keep their children safe.
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“I think it’s lousy that somebody would do this. They’ve made hundreds if not thousands of euro today on the backs of people trying to keep their children safe.
“People living in Dublin are simply being discriminated against. I bet people out in the country attending clinics in Donegal or Mayo didn’t have to pay to park their cars while getting their children vaccinated,” she fumed.
Another man in the queue was Liam McMahon from Shankhill who brought his 7 year-old-niece to be vaccinated.
He criticised organisers who ask them to queue outside after they had been admitted to the RDS Simmonscourt.
“This was supposed to be a positive experience for children but all the children I saw were treated very badly.
“We were initially allowed to wait inside the building, but we were all marched outside then to queue in the cold for over an hour.
“I think it was handled very badly. It’s not like they have just started vaccinating people, they’ve been doing this for weeks now,” he said.
