Irish people who get ill on Continent must pay for treatment

IRISH people in need of emergency medical care while in other European states are still having to pay for treatment - even though foreign visitors who fall ill in this country are charged nothing.

Visitors from the European Economic Area (the EU countries plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) and Switzerland who fall ill here are essentially treated as medical cardholders.

This means they do not pay for hospital admissions, GP visits or prescriptions they may need by way of “necessary care.”