Dublin at a Glance
Health Care in Dublin
You can always count on the swift reaction of Dublin's emergency services.
Primary Health Care Services
As in the rest of the country, primary health care in Dublin is usually administered by general practitioners, commonly called family doctors. These practitioners often have their practices in Local Health Offices, building complexes which encompass several health care facilities, including specialists such as physiotherapists, and many others.
Of course, general practitioners are not bound by law to have their practices in the Local Health Office and might be located anywhere in your neighborhood. The Health Service Executive partitions Dublin into seven regions and offers loads of information on their home page. The page includes addresses of Local Health Offices and all GPs and specialists in your area.
Generally speaking, expats can expect to pay for the services of a family doctor. Fees are usually between 40€ and 60€ for the appointment. This does not include additional costs that might come with obtaining prescription medication, getting injections, or other services.
Exemption from Fees
Although there are two plans that cover health care bills for people on low incomes (the Medical Card and the General Practitioner Visit Card), expats should not expect to qualify for either one. We have detailed the minimum level of income for expats in our article on Moving to Dublin. The figures in that article are well above the maximum limit for Medical or GP Visit Cards.
Citizens of the EEA are entitled to receive certain healthcare services free of charge but cannot expect to be fully exempt from medical fees. The Citizens Information Board offers further details on this issue.
Emergency Services
Every now and again you might need a GP outside the usual office times, which are commonly from 9 to 11.30 am and 2 to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. If anything should befall you outside of these hours or on weekends, you can contact the out-of-hours service. This service is only available to people who are already registered with a general practitioner.
The hotline for out-of-hours services depends on which part of Dublin you are located in. You can see a list of all numbers on the pages of the HSE. Please keep in mind that the service has also limited hours of operation, from 6 to 10 pm on weekdays and from 10 am to 6 pm on weekends.
Hospitals
There are 16 HSE administered public hospitals in Dublin, offering a wide range of diagnosis, treatment and emergency services. Many of these institutions are national referral centers for special services; Beaumont Hospital, for example, is Ireland’s prime institution for neurosurgery.
Apart from that, you will be able to find any kind of specialist practitioner and institution within the Dublin area. As health care services in Ireland are generally of excellent quality, we’d be hard pressed to recommend any of the fine institutions in Dublin over another. If you are looking for a hospital in your area, you can easily find it using the city council’s excellent interactive map of Dublin. The service is not limited to hospitals but will let you search for any amenity you might need during your life in Dublin.
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