In the concluding part of our Stretched series, we looked at the cost of healthcare in Ireland.
Charlie Weston, personal finance editor with the Irish Independent, said: "It's incredibly expensive for families. If you choose not to go to A&E you're paying €95 to avoid queuing."
"GP costs are typically €50 and can be up to €65. Prescription charges are notoriously expensive. And even if you have health insurance, it's essentially a rip-off."
Roisin Shorthall of the Social Democrats compared our situation to that of others in Europe: "Having to pay for medical care is unheard of in most other European countries. When a person needs medical care, cost isn't a barrier to them. Irrespective of their circumstances, they get free access to healthcare."
"We are very unusual in having 45% of the population paying for private health insurance."
Brian Turner, health economist at Cork University Business School in UCC, added: "In other countries GP visits are subsidised, whereas here 36% of the population have medical cards. Over half of the population have to pay the full cost for a GP visit. That's going to cause hardship."
Brian also explained that having free GP care for all in Ireland would cause problems with waiting lists, as is the case in the UK, and that it would only work by increasing the number of doctors.
"The vast majority of people in Ireland are used to getting a GP appointment on the same day or the next day, so that's something we need to take into consideration. We do need to increase GP capacity if we're going to roll this out."
