Healthcare in Dublin: what the Common Travel Area gives you, and what you still pay for

Living in Dublin as a Brit, you get Irish public healthcare on the same footing as an Irish citizen. That's the good news. The less good news is that Ireland isn't the NHS, and seeing a GP usually costs money.

The short version

• Under the Common Travel Area, UK and Irish citizens can live in each other's country with access to healthcare [1].
• You qualify for public care once you're "ordinarily resident": living in Ireland, or intending to, for at least a year [2][3].
• Most adults pay to see a GP. A means-tested medical card or GP visit card makes visits free, and every child under 8 and everyone over 70 gets a GP visit card [4].
• Turning up at A&E without a GP's letter costs €100 (about £83). Public inpatient charges were scrapped in April 2023 [5][6].
• Lots of people buy private health insurance to beat waiting lists. If you're 35 or over, buy within nine months of arriving to avoid a lifetime loading [7].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.2002), rounded.

Your rights as a Brit: the Common Travel Area

The Common Travel Area (CTA) is a 1922 arrangement between the UK and Ireland, reaffirmed in a 2019 memorandum so it would survive Brexit. Citizens of either country can live in the other and enjoy "access to healthcare", along with social welfare, housing support and some voting rights [1]. Only UK and Irish citizens get CTA rights; a non-British, non-Irish partner doesn't [1].

In practice, this means you don't need an S1, a GHIC or private cover to use the Irish public system once you live here. What you need is to be ordinarily resident. The HSE treats you as ordinarily resident if you've lived in Ireland for at least a year, or you intend to, and may ask for something like a utility bill or bank statement dated within the last 12 months [3]. If you've just moved with a job and a lease, you'll normally qualify straight away. GOV.UK says the same: once you're ordinarily resident you're entitled to state healthcare "on the same basis as an Irish citizen" [2].

UK State Pension holders: if you get a UK State Pension and aren't subject to Irish social insurance, you may qualify for a medical card funded by the UK [2][3]. That's well worth claiming, because it covers GP visits and most prescriptions. Our guide to the NHS when you live abroad and the S1 explains the UK side.

Posted workers sent over temporarily by a UK employer are treated differently; the UK pays for their necessary care [2].

How the Irish system works

There's no free-at-the-point-of-use GP service for most adults. Ireland splits people into groups depending on which card they hold:

GP fees aren't set by the state, so they vary from practice to practice. Ring round before you register, and ask about the cost of a standard visit and of a blood test, which is often extra.

The medical card

A medical card is the closest thing to the NHS. It covers GP visits, public hospital services, some dental, optical and hearing services, maternity and infant care, and prescriptions apart from a per-item charge [3]. It's means-tested for people under 70, and income limits are fairly low, so most people in work won't qualify. You apply online at medicalcard.ie [4].

The GP visit card

The GP visit card is the more common win. It makes GP visits and out-of-hours GP visits free, but not hospital charges or medicines [4]. You get one without a means test if you are [4]:

• aged under 8
• aged over 70
• getting Carer's Benefit or Carer's Allowance

For everyone else under 70 it's means-tested, with more generous limits than the medical card. The weekly net income limit has been €418 (about £348) for a single person living alone and €607 (about £506) for a couple since 13 November 2023, with extra allowances for children and for costs like rent and childcare [4]. Rent in Dublin is high, so it's worth running the HSE's eligibility calculator even if you assume you earn too much.

The Drugs Payment Scheme

If you don't have a medical card, sign up for the Drugs Payment Scheme as soon as you arrive. It caps what your household pays for approved prescription medicines at €80 (about £67) a month, and has done since March 2022 [8]. It covers your partner and your children under 18, or under 23 in full-time education [8].

A&E, hospitals and getting treated

Dublin's big public hospitals include St James's, the Mater, Beaumont, St Vincent's and Tallaght University Hospital, and children's hospital services are run by Children's Health Ireland. Everyone speaks English, so there's no hunting for an English-speaking doctor.

• Emergency department: if you walk into A&E without a GP's referral letter, there's a €100 (about £83) charge. It's waived for medical card holders and some other groups, and you only pay it once for the same illness or accident [5][6]. Bring your GP letter if you have one.
• Injury units: for sprains, cuts and minor fractures the charge is €75 (about £62), unless you have a medical card or GP letter [6].
• Inpatient stays: public inpatient and day-case charges were abolished on 17 April 2023, so a public patient no longer pays the old daily bed charge [6].
• Outpatients: free if your GP refers you as a public patient. The catch is waiting lists, which are the main reason so many people buy insurance [6].

In an emergency, ring 112 or 999, both of which work in Ireland.

Private health insurance

A large share of people in Ireland pay for private health insurance, mainly to skip public waiting lists and get a private or semi-private room. The market is regulated by the Health Insurance Authority, and the main insurers are Vhi Healthcare, Laya Healthcare, Irish Life Health and Level Health [9].

Irish health insurance works differently from UK private medical insurance. It's community-rated, so insurers can't charge you more because you're older or ill. Instead, the system nudges people to join young:

• Lifetime Community Rating: if you first buy cover aged 35 or over, you pay a 2% loading for every year you've been 35 or older without cover, up to 70%, for up to 10 years [7].
• The newcomer's window: if you buy cover within nine months of becoming resident in Ireland, no loading applies [7]. Put that date in your diary. It's easy to let it slip, and a 45-year-old who misses it could pay a 20% loading for a decade.
• Waiting periods: new members can wait up to 26 weeks for new illnesses, up to 5 years for pre-existing conditions and up to 52 weeks for maternity claims. Accidents are covered straight away [10].

Insurers don't always apply the maximum waits [10], so compare policies on the Health Insurance Authority's comparison tool before you buy. If you've had private medical insurance in the UK, ask each insurer whether it counts that history; don't assume it does.

Getting set up: a step-by-step

1. Register with a GP. Ask colleagues and neighbours, then ring a few practices near home. Some Dublin practices aren't taking new patients, so start early.
2. Get your PPS number, which you'll need for most HSE applications.
3. Apply for the Drugs Payment Scheme if you take any regular medication.
4. Check the GP visit card calculator, and register any child under 8.
5. If you're on a UK State Pension, ask about the UK-funded medical card.
6. Decide on private health insurance within nine months if you're 35 or over.
7. Bring a copy of your NHS records and a list of your prescriptions; your new GP will thank you.

If you're visiting Ireland rather than living here, the rules are different: your GHIC or private travel insurance applies, so check GOV.UK before you travel.

For first-hand tips on GPs that are taking new patients, our community group for Brits in Ireland is a good place to ask.

Sources

1. Citizens Information: Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK (updated 9 April 2025)
2. GOV.UK: Healthcare in Ireland
3. Citizens Information: Entitlement to public health services
4. Citizens Information: GP visit cards
5. Tallaght University Hospital: Patient charges
6. Citizens Information: Charges for hospital services (edited 1 August 2026)
7. Health Insurance Authority: Lifetime Community Rating (updated 5 February 2026)
8. Citizens Information: Drugs Payment Scheme (updated 13 October 2026)
9. Health Insurance Authority: homepage and comparison tool
10. Health Insurance Authority: Waiting periods

Keep reading

• Moving to Dublin as a Brit
• The Common Travel Area: living and working in Ireland as a Brit
• Cost of living in Dublin
• The NHS when you live abroad (and the S1 for pensioners in the EU)