There are three basic components to the price paid by patients for their medicines in Ireland:
- The first component goes to the manufacturer (ex-factory price);
- The second component goes to the wholesaler for the delivery of medicines to pharmacies and hospitals; and
- The third component goes to the pharmacist to cover their professional fee and mark-up, these vary depending on whether the patient has a medical card, has certain long-term illnesses or pays part of the cost themselves.
The ex-factory price of medicines in Ireland are linked with those in 14 other EU states – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK
