Rise in prescription opioid use under public drug scheme
The use of opioid pain medication under Ireland's main community drug scheme has increased by more than 10% since 2018, according to a new RTÉ Investigates analysis.
According to a recent RTÉ Investigates analysis of HSE data, the use of opioid pain medication under Ireland's General Medical Services (GMS) scheme saw a more than 10% increase between 2018 and 2025. The scheme, which covers around 30% of the population, saw €316 million spent on opioid prescriptions during this period, with €271 million coming from the GMS alone.
Over 17 million opioid prescriptions were recorded under the three schemes, with over two million prescribed each year on average. While Ireland has not faced the same scale of opioid crisis as the US, the use of prescription opioids under the GMS has risen in recent years. The data, which includes prescription opioids such as oxycodone, codeine, fentanyl, morphine and tramadol, was aggregated by the HSE’s Primary Care Reimbursement Service and covers costs, patient numbers and prescribing across the HSE’s 32 former Local Health Office areas.
The average annual rate for opioid prescriptions per 1,000 GMS-eligible people increased from 15,400 in 2018 to 17,200 in 2025, a 12% rise. Some areas, such as Cork North Lee, experienced a particularly high annual rate, while others, like Clare, Cavan-Monaghan and Galway, had a lower rate.
Written by urgent.news from RTE News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
