Funding for care under the HSE’s Treatment Abroad Scheme (TAS) more than doubled over a two-year period, the Medical Independent (MI) has learned.
The TAS funds specialised, consultant-led treatments abroad that are unavailable in Ireland.
Approximately €13.2 million was spent on treatment costs through the Scheme in 2023. This figure rose to €24.8 million in 2024 and €28.3 million in 2025, according to records released through Freedom of Information (FoI) law. In the first eight months of 2026, the cost was €20.3 million.
In 2025, some 954 treatment visits were accessed, compared with 957 in 2024 and 840 in 2023. Up to the end of August this year, the figure was 616.
During these years, the treatments were most commonly accessed in the UK, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Between 2023 and 2026, the average turnaround time for applications to the TAS was four to seven days. In the first eight months of 2026, the average turnaround time was 6.67 days.
Around 700 applications are made to the TAS annually. In 2025, 80 applications were declined, compared with 71 in 2024 and 119 in 2023. In the first eight months of 2026, 51 applications were unsuccessful.
Every year, a small number of declined applications are appealed, according to the HSE. In 2025, 15 unsuccessful applications were appealed by applicants, compared with 14 in 2024 and 18 in 2023. In the first eight months of 2026, five declined applications were appealed. The HSE did not provide data on how many appeals were successful.
The HSE stated that the TAS “operates within the overall health expenditure framework approved by the Oireachtas through the annual Estimates process and reflected in the HSE National Service Plan”.
“The TAS facilitates the funding of public patients resident in Ireland to access medical treatment in another EU/EEA country, the UK, or Switzerland, where such treatment is not available in Ireland.”
According to the rules of the TAS, the treatment must be within Irish law. It must be either unavailable in Ireland or unavailable in the time normally necessary to get it in Ireland (taking into account the person’s health and the likely course of their condition).
The Scheme does not accept self-referrals or GP referrals. Referrals must come from a public hospital consultant based in Ireland. The TAS does not usually cover expenses for travel, accommodation, or food.
“But we may assist with reasonable, basic air or sea fares where appropriate,” according to the HSE website.
“If the patient is under 18 or needs assistance when travelling for medical reasons, we will consider providing travel expenses if we approve their application.”
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