OECD study shows Irish healthcare funding below average

Ireland has one of the lowest government spends on healthcare of any developed country.

The Organisation for Economic Coordination and Development found that only Mexico, Poland, the Slovak Republic and South Korea ranked lower than Ireland in a survey of 30 countries.

The total spend here is just 7.1% of GDP, while the OECD average stands at 8.9%.

The number of acute hospital beds in this country is also well below average.

In 2004, Ireland had 2.9 acute beds per 1,000 people when the OECD average was 4.1 beds.