Extending free GP care to everyone in Ireland could cost the taxpayer up to €881m a year, according to new ESRI research.

The research, funded by the Department of Health examines the impact of rolling out free GP to everyone in the country.

The Sláintecare plan aims to roll out free GP care to everyone in Ireland by 2027 and the ESRI research estimates what it would cost to introduce it in 2026.

It found that the rollout would cost the taxpayer between €381 million and €881 million in its first year.

The researchers examined what it would cost to roll it out over three years based on two scenarios – age and income.

• Using the age-based approach, they estimated it would cost between €462 million and €881 million in 2026
• Using the income-based approach, they estimated it would cost between €381 million and €881 million.

Lead author Dr Sheelah Connolly said it would help Ireland move towards a universal healthcare system – but warned that there may not be enough GPs in the country to make it work.

“If this policy was implemented, if free GP care was extended, there would be an additional 1.9 million to 2.3 million GP visits in 2026,” she told Newstalk.

“Even before COVID, we had a situation where there were some places in the country where people weren’t able to access a GP because there was no GP available in their area.

“What would happen is, if this policy was implemented, the demand for GPs and GP visits would increase quite significantly and, given the current demands on GPs, it is not clear there are a sufficient number of GPs currently available to meet that additional demand.”

Dr Connolly noted that Ireland’s ageing and growing population would also increase demand on GPs.

As a result, she warned that introducing free GP care could remove the financial barrier to access but increase other barriers, including long waiting times and lack of availability.

She said this could end up “undermining the universality of the system”.