Hundreds of Mayo patients travelled abroad for HSE-funded treatment over past two years
Between 2024 and 2025, a total of 232 patients from Mayo travelled outside of the State to receive treatment funded by the HSE.
Of these, 134 individuals travelled to the north of the country under the Northern Ireland Planned Healthcare Scheme to access private healthcare over the two-year period.
A further 98 individuals travelled to a European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) country to access healthcare under the Cross Border Directive.
The figures were provided by HSE National Services and Schemes in response to a query submitted by Cllr Michael Kilcoyne at the HSE West and North West Regional Health Forum meeting.
Commenting on the figures, Cllr Kilcoyne said he thought “the numbers would’ve been higher.”
Both the Northern Ireland Planned Healthcare Scheme and the Cross Border Directive allow patients to access treatments abroad to which they are already entitled to under Ireland’s public healthcare system.
The Northern Ireland Planned Healthcare Scheme allows public patients to access private healthcare services for treatments they are entitled to in Ireland.
The scheme came into effect on an administrative basis in January 2025, and the Department of Health is currently drafting legislation to put it on a legal basis.
Under the scheme, patients pay for their treatment upfront and claim reimbursement when they return home. Reimbursement is charged at the lower of the two treatment costs, whether in Ireland or in the north.
Public patient pathways that apply within Ireland also apply to those accessing treatment under the scheme.
To qualify for reimbursement, the patient must have been a resident of Ireland for at least one year prior to receiving treatment.
The scheme slightly differs from the Cross Border Directive in that it does not cover access to public healthcare services in Northern Ireland.
Additionally, the provisions of EU social security legislation, which govern the Cross Border Directive, do not apply, it is based on residency only.
The Cross Border Directive, introduced across the EU in October 2013, allows patients to access healthcare in another EU or EEA country if they are entitled to that same care in Ireland.
Operated by the HSE, the directive allows patients to seek public healthcare treatment abroad and receive reimbursement.
If a patient is entitled to public health services in Ireland, they can choose to access those services in another EU or EEA member state.
As with the Northern Ireland Planned Healthcare Scheme, patients pay upfront and are reimbursed on their return to Ireland at the lower cost of treatment, whether abroad or in Ireland.
Eligibility under the directive is based on EU social security legislation and does not apply to pensioners, frontier workers, posted workers, or their dependents from the UK or Switzerland living in Ireland.
In 2023, the Irish Medical Times reported that the HSE spent nearly €38m on 6,949 treatments for Irish patients outside of the State.
Under the Northern Ireland Planned Healthcare Scheme, a total of €15.7m was spent on 4,622 reimbursements for treatments.
As part of the Cross Boarder Directive, 1,762 reimbursements were made at a cost of just over €9m.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.