Currently, motorists paying for parking using vending machines or the Apcoa app only have to input their vehicle registration number. They are not required to provide evidence of rail travel.

The issue was discussed at April’s meeting of Cork City Council on Monday after Fine Gael councillor Shane O’Callaghan tabled a motion calling on Mr Ryan, his department and Irish Rail to engage with the city council to provide more parking spaces at Kent Station.

“You have a situation at the moment where people are actually trying to do the right thing in terms of taking the train, where it says how much CO2 emissions you save by taking the train to Dublin as opposed to driving by car,” he said.

It’s a fantastic service but the big issue is you arrive at the train station for the 7am train and there’s no parking available. And then you drive around to the other car park on the quays and there’s no parking there either.

“So what do you do in that situation? You invariably end up parking on the side of the street, and you get a ticket, which is good for financing the city, but it’s hardly encouraging for people who want to use the train.

“It costs €8.50 per day [to park at the train station], but I think people who are not getting the train are sometimes parking there. This is a vital issue in terms of connectivity between Cork and Dublin and other cities, and is something that needs to be addressed.”

Lord Mayor Cllr Kieran McCarthy sounded a note of caution that the motion to provide additional parking could jar with the city’s wider transport policy.

But Mr O’Callaghan said there needed to be flexibility.

“This is for the greater good,” he said. “If we are serious about reducing carbon emissions, we should be encouraging people to use the train instead of driving.”

Independent councillor Mick Finn agreed and said paying for parking in the train station needed to be made easier, and he suggested City Hall should consider installing parking meters on the roads around the train station to facilitate overflow parking.

But fellow independent Paudie Dineen went a step further and said Irish Rail should build a multi-storey car park at Kent Station, and provide extensive parking at its commuter rail stations at Little Island, Carrigtwohill and Midleton.

“They should become the new park and ride sides. Multi-storey car parking needs to be looked at,” he said.

According to the Irish Rail website, parking rates at Kent Station are €3 per hour, €8.50 per day, €30 per week or €1,344 year year, the same rates as Connolly and Heuston stations in Dublin.

The Kent Station daily rate is cheaper than the daily rates at the two car parks on nearby St Patrick’s Quay.