3424. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Health if a review is planned of reimbursement rates under the Northern Ireland planned healthcare scheme to reflect current treatment costs; if her Department has examined the feasibility of direct-payment arrangements for patients unable to pay treatment costs upfront under the Northern Ireland planned healthcare scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60844/26]

The Northern Ireland Planned Healthcare Scheme (NIPHS) has been in effective operation since 1 January 2021. This Scheme was introduced to mitigate the loss of access to care from private providers in Northern Ireland under the EU Cross Border Directive (CBD), which ceased to apply as a result of Brexit.

The current administrative scheme enables persons ordinarily resident in the State to access and be reimbursed for private healthcare in Northern Ireland by the HSE, provided such healthcare is publicly available within Ireland. Such healthcare will be reimbursed at the cost of providing that treatment in the State or the cost of same in Northern Ireland, whichever is the lesser. The HSE provides further information for patients on the HSE NIPHS website: www2.hse.ie/services/schemes-allowances/niphs/

It is important to note that reimbursement, under the provisions of the CBD and NIPHS, is confined to the costs of the care itself and does not include any additional costs, such as travel or accommodation costs, incurred by the patient. Reimbursement rates are set by the HSE. And are those applicable to the cost of treatment in the Public Health Service in Ireland.