€133m spent on children’s health

Parents with health insurance spent almost €133m over the last 12 months on healthcare for their children.

On top of the cost, parents here also had to pay out almost €84m for GP visits and €48.8m for prescriptions and over-the-counter medications such as pain-killers and vitamins.

A report carried out on for Laya Healthcare found that an overwhelming majority of parents (85%) are demanding free GP cards for children under five to help curb high costs. Young children, it was claimed, tend to need more GP care and medicines.