The availability of medicines in general

Approved medicines prescribed by GPs are free of charge for persons with full eligibility. Similarly, no charge is required from people under the age of 16 who are suffering from a mental handicap or a mental illness as well as persons suffering from specified long-term illnesses for the treatment of the illness in question.

Finally, under the drugs payment scheme, no individual or family is required to pay more then € 85 per month for approved prescribed medicines.[1]

The availability of Alzheimer treatments

All anti-dementia drugs are available in Ireland and are part of the general system described above. There are no specific examinations which are required for medicines to be made available to patients, nor does the system provide upper or lower MMSE limits for the treatment with different anti-dementia drugs. There are no restrictions as to the access of people living alone or in nursing homes to available Alzheimer treatments. Finally, prescriptions can be filled by any doctor and are not limited to specialists, be it for treatment initiation or continuation decisions.

[1] European Commission (2006): MISSOC – Mutual information system on social protection : Social protection in the Member States of the European Union, of the European Economic Area and in Switzerland : Comparative tables