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Treatments
Any planned treatment that the Irish public system provides can be covered by the Cross Border Directive, not only the ones on this page. The pages below are examples, each with the wait at home, what the HSE pays back and how it works for that operation.
If yours is not here, it may still be eligible: see Not on the list? below, or ask us.
Examples of treatments covered
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Bones and joints
Hip replacement
A hip replacement is for a hip joint worn down by arthritis, when pain and stiffness no longer respond to tablets, exercise or a walking stick.
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Bones and joints
Knee replacement
A knee replacement is for a knee worn down by arthritis, when the pain, stiffness and swelling no longer respond to other treatment.
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Bones and joints
Knee arthroscopy
A knee arthroscopy is keyhole surgery for damage inside the knee, most often a torn meniscus, the cushion of cartilage that can catch, lock or swell.
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Bones and joints
Shoulder surgery
The two most common shoulder operations treat a tendon that is trapped or torn.
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Bones and joints
Spinal surgery
Spinal surgery treats pain, numbness or weakness in the legs or arms that comes from a nerve pressed inside the spine, when rest, exercise and injections have not helped.
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Bones and joints
Bunion surgery
A bunion is the big toe drifting towards the other toes, so that the joint at its base sticks out, rubs in shoes and hurts.
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Abdomen, women's and men's health
Hernia repair
A hernia is a bulge where part of the inside of the abdomen pushes through a weak spot in the muscle wall, most often in the groin.
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Abdomen, women's and men's health
Gallbladder removal
The gallbladder is a small pouch under the liver that stores bile.
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Abdomen, women's and men's health
Weight-loss surgery
Weight-loss surgery is for people whose weight is already harming their health, when diet, exercise and medicines have not been enough.
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Abdomen, women's and men's health
Colonoscopy and gastroscopy
A colonoscopy and a gastroscopy are tests, not operations, done with a thin flexible tube with a camera at its tip.
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Abdomen, women's and men's health
Hysterectomy
A hysterectomy is an operation to remove the womb.
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Abdomen, women's and men's health
Ovarian cyst removal
An ovarian cyst is a fluid-filled sac on the ovary.
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Abdomen, women's and men's health
Prostate surgery
The usual operation for an enlarged prostate, a transurethral resection, treats the benign enlargement that comes with age and makes it hard to pass water; it is not a cancer operation.
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Eyes, ears, nose and throat, veins, skin
Cataract surgery
A cataract is the lens inside the eye turning cloudy, which blurs and dims what you see.
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Eyes, ears, nose and throat, veins, skin
Tonsil surgery
A tonsillectomy removes both tonsils, the two pads of tissue at the back of the throat, when tonsillitis keeps coming back or the tonsils cause other problems.
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Eyes, ears, nose and throat, veins, skin
Nose and sinus surgery
Nose and sinus surgery treats a nose that stays blocked or sinuses that stay inflamed when sprays and medicines have not helped.
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Eyes, ears, nose and throat, veins, skin
Septoplasty
The septum is the wall of cartilage and bone between the two nostrils.
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Eyes, ears, nose and throat, veins, skin
Varicose vein treatment
Varicose veins are surface veins in the leg whose valves no longer close, so blood pools and the veins bulge, ache and swell.
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Bones and joints
Carpal tunnel release
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a nerve squeezed as it passes through a narrow tunnel at the wrist, which causes numbness, tingling and weakness in the hand.
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Eyes, ears, nose and throat, veins, skin
Breast reduction
A breast reduction is for large, heavy breasts that cause back, neck and shoulder pain, sore skin in the folds, or grooves from bra straps.
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Any other planned treatment
Other treatments
If your operation is not on our list, this route may still work for you: we check your treatment in three ways before we propose anything.
How we check it
Why Spain
The refund covers the price.
Private hospitals in Spain can do many planned operations at a fixed price within what the HSE pays back.
A large, experienced private sector.
Spain has 431 private hospitals, more than half of all its hospitals, and they carry out about four in ten of all operations in the country.
The same EU rules as at home.
Doctors' qualifications are recognised across the EU under shared rules, your rights as a patient come from the same EU law, and your data is protected by the same EU data protection rules.
Close and familiar.
There are direct flights from Ireland, and residents of Ireland made nearly 2.8 million visits to Spain in 2024.
Sources: Fundación IDIS, Observatorio del Sector Sanitario Privado 2025; Spain's National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadística), arrivals of international tourists by country of residence, 2024.
Not on the list? It may still be eligible.
The rule is simple: if the Irish public system provides a treatment, the Cross Border Directive can cover the same treatment abroad. If you are not sure whether your treatment is covered, ask us.
Covered
- Any planned treatment the Irish public system provides
Not covered
- Organ transplants
- Long-term care
We arrange planned surgery only, not:
- Emergency care
- Cosmetic care
- Dental care
Talk to us first
Kaare Beck-Fischer, Chief Executive Officer
Not sure whether your treatment is eligible? Ask us. No commitment and no documents needed.
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