“I have to pay, migrants get to see them for free” – The cost of GP and dental visits in Ireland is still going up. It will get Worse, before the Anger Spills out on the Streets.

April 2, 2025 20:30

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New data has revealed the increasing costs of GP and dental visits, showing that doctors’ fees range from €50 to €90 depending on location, while the price of a routine dental check-up has risen by 10 percent, reports The Mirror.

According to figures from the Central Statistics Office, GP fees have increased by 14 percent since 2020, while dental costs have surged by 20 percent over the same period.

Statistics from the Irish Dental Association indicate that a standard dental exam now costs €50, up from €45 in 2020, reports The Mirror.

Fintan Hourihan of the Irish Dental Association attributes these rising expenses to the overall cost of running a business.

Regarding GP fees, Dr. Denis McCauley, president of the Irish Medical Organisation, stated: “The increase has been reasonable and not excessive.

“GPs have to pay for staff costs and heating. It’s not that the GP pockets all that [the fee],” reports The Mirror.

The Irish Medical Organisation does not maintain records of GP fees across the country.

In 2022, Dr. McCauley commented that publishing GP fees “without any context and are misleading” as they fail to account for the “substantial” expenses “associated with running a modern, appropriately staffed, GP practice,” reports The Mirror.

When the Department of Health commissioned the ESRI to research the potential cost of free GP care for all, findings in January 2023 estimated it could reach up to €881 million in the following year. Dr. McCauley cautioned that this would lead to longer waiting times for appointments.

Previously serving as chair of the IMO’s GP Committee, Dr. McCauley, a coroner and GP based in Co Donegal, was appointed IMO president in April 2024.

Speaking yesterday, he remarked: “Costs are random. In Donegal, it was €50 for almost a decade and it has gone up to €60 now and I think that is reasonable. I imagine [the cheapest] will be in a rural area. I think that you would find that it would be the cheaper area. Similarly, I’d imagine that costs are much higher in somewhere like Dublin,” reports The Mirror.

Some Dublin patients reported that a doctor’s visit cost them €45 in 2018, increased to €65 in 2021, and reached €70 in 2025 – reflecting a 55.5 percent rise.

At the time of the ESRI research two years ago, the estimated cost of implementing free GP care for all by 2026 ranged from €381 million to €881 million, reports The Mirror.

The ESRI study examined free GP care based on either age or income, determining that an age-based system would result in the lowest cost to the State at €381 million.

An income-based model was projected to begin at €462 million, though costs would rise due to the necessity of means testing, reports The Mirror.

The anticipated number of GP visits in 2026 would be 22.7 million under an age-based approach, compared to 22.3 million under an income-based system.

The ESRI cautioned that the healthcare system may not have enough GPs to handle the increased demand, reports The Mirror.

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