Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 May 2026
1369. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Health to set out the full process and eligibility criteria for patients accessing the Northern Ireland Planned Healthcare Scheme; and to provide the number of applications, approvals, refusals and reimbursements issued under the scheme in each of the past three years, along with any planned changes or improvements. [39553/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Northern Ireland Planned Healthcare Scheme (NIPHS) has been in effective operation since 1 January 2021. This Scheme was introduced to mitigate the loss of access to care from private providers in Northern Ireland under the EU Cross Border Directive, which ceased to apply as a result of Brexit.
The current administrative scheme enables persons ordinarily resident in the State to access and be reimbursed for private healthcare in Northern Ireland by the HSE, provided such healthcare is publicly available within Ireland. Such healthcare will be reimbursed at the cost of providing that treatment in the State or the cost of same in Northern Ireland, whichever is the lesser. The HSE provides further information for patients on the HSE NIPHS website: www2.hse.ie/services/schemes-allowances/niphs/.
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
