Patients’ foreign treatment costs €21m

The State has spent more than €21m on applications from patients to be treated abroad in the past three years, according to figures released by the HSE.

Data released under Freedom of Information shows that while the number of applications received and approved for the Treatment Abroad Scheme (TAS) has fallen consecutively over the past three years, the amount of money spent on those procedures increased in 2014.

The figures also show the vast majority of applications are approved and most come from the Dublin area.