Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct that the €5 million is thepro ratacost. It is an estimate based on a similar pattern of usage for Irish patients. Some €5.3 million is our most accurate estimate of the cost and it has been provisioned for as part of our Brexit contingency funding.

A Belfast resident who gets sick in an unplanned manner while on holiday in France and finds himself or herself in hospital will pay the healthcare costs up front at the point of access. To refer to Deputy O'Reilly's point, if a person does not have an EHIC, he or she must pay upfront. I will try to explain the process in the absence of the regulations to be helpful to the Deputy. That person must then log on to the HSE online portal and fill out the self-declaration form stating that he or she became unexpectedly sick while on holiday in France, went to the emergency department, and what the cost was. He or she must also submit the receipt and proof that he or she is a resident of Northern Ireland. The HSE will then reimburse the cost within weeks. That is how it will work, roughly speaking.

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