NUIG staff to avoid parking levy with new charge

Date Published: {J}

By Antoinette Giblin

Lecturers at NUI Galway are set to sidestep a €200 government parking levy when the university introduces a nominal parking charge next semester which will exempt them from the controversial measure.

The move has provoked anger from students however, who will now also have to pay for parking on campus but will not benefit from the exemption.

Workers whose employers provide them with free parking will be subject to the controversial new charge, which will be deducted from their wages.

It was announced last week that the levy will be imposed in Dublin after June and will be subsequently rolled out in other major urban centres. It is expected to be in place in Galway by the start of the college year.

Authorities at NUI Galway will notify staff and students in coming weeks that the charge for use of parking on campus will be applied from next semester.

“Letters are about to go out to people in relation to collecting the charges,” confirmed Keith Warnock, Vice-President of Capital Projects at NUIG. “That should be happening in the next week or so.”

The annual parking fee of €35 for university staff will negate the obligation for them to pay the €200 Government levy as they will no longer technically be provided with ‘free’ parking.

The decision to impose the charge has angered students however, who will lose their entitlement to free parking and have to pay a slightly reduced fee of €32.