Ireland has the highest consumer prices in the EU

T McGibney said:
It's hard to imagine that literally everywhere from large supermarket multiples to corner shops to pharmacies and other outlets are all conspiring in the scam.

I can buy 3 16-packs of paracetemol for a pound in Poundland and B&M bargains in NI but those sort of places either don't sell them down here or they're priced at least €2 a pack. I can only assume it's because of regulation.
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Nope, greedy pharmacists and distributors.

The State actually pays much lower prices for generic drugs in Ireland than on the mainland. That's a large part of the reason we are seeing shortages.

From this article;
"The simple fact is that a lot of medicines on the Irish market are now too cheap, especially when you consider the extra costs of delivering them from Europe or further afield. If you have a warehouse full of product in France, why would you bother trying to deliver it to our sodden rock on the edge of the Atlantic when you can just send it a couple of hours down the road to Germany or Italy and sell it at a higher price? To take the products I mentioned above — the factory gate price for 100 paracetamol is €1.73 in Ireland, but the EU average is €7.35. For 98 prednisolone 5mg, the Irish price is €3.06 versus the EU price of €7.49. Simple economics dictates that we’re going to be on the hind teat whenever supplies get allocated."

So it comes down to the price than distributors and pharmacists charge. In fairness to pharmacists they don't whine as much as doctors but they make even more money.
 

Purple said:
The State actually pays much lower prices for generic drugs in Ireland than on the mainland. That's a large part of the reason we are seeing shortages.
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Does the State have a separate supply chain for medications than that to the pharmacies, supermarkets etc?

And by mainland, do you mean mainland Europe/the continent?
 
Miakk said:
Does the State have a separate supply chain for medications than that to the pharmacies, supermarkets etc?
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Yes, in a away. The Pharmacies buy from distributors, the State buys brand name drugs from manufacturers and distributors but the State pays far lower prices for generics than the pharmacies charge. I don't know that the difference is between what the State paya and what pharmacies pay. I presume large chains have considerable clout.
Generally speaking Pharmacies make more money from generics than on Brand name drugs.
Miakk said:
And by mainland, do you mean mainland Europe/the continent?
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Yes, what other place could I be talking about?
 
T McGibney said:
I know. That's only one aspect of a crazy and expensive system.
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Drug overdose is the most common emergency department presentation for intentional self-harm. And paracetemol is the most commonly used drug for intentional self-harm. For this reason several European countries do not allow its sale in non-pharmacy outlets. There have been calls for similar restrictions in Ireland (eg, National Suicide Research Foundation).
 
I remember reading over the years that Irish people are particularly loyal to brands and more reluctant to switch, particularly to own-brand labels. I hope that has changed overall but 2 members of my family claim that only Panadol will work for them and refuse to accept the Boots version from England which are a fraction of the price.

Healthcare is a huge national expense so even a small percentage increase can have big effects. I find it infuriating that VHI, Laya, etc. pay for a number of pseudoscientific "services" like acupuncture, reflexology, etc. which are complete nonsense but add to the costs of premiums. Pharmacies also sell a lot of trash like homeopathy and endless vitamins and supplements - people are convinced to buy them which adds to costs.
 
Early Riser said:
Regulations in Ireland mean non-pharmacy retailers can sell you no more than a pack of 12: https://www.hpra.ie/docs/default-so...oducts-by-non-pharmacy-retailers.pdf?sfvrsn=0
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Also, as its set at 12 here, as distinct to 16 tablets in the UK, pharma companies have to produce a specific sized English-language product for our market. Same thing for children's medicine, sizing is https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/256725735 (100ml in the UK)vs https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/en-IE/products/255875034 (60ml in Ireland).

If you go into Boots in Newry, their UK economies of scale are apparent where their own brand paracetamol is available for 50p. The risk associated with selling 12 vs 16 paracetamol tables, or 60ml vs 100ml of Calpol outside of a pharmacy is minute, so who benefits from maintaining these differences with the major market next door?
 
Gordon Gekko said:
We are the only fully island country in Europe, so shouldn’t our prices be the highest?
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Thats just making excuses, we used to be much cheaper and way cheaper than the scandinavian countries, and we were an island back then too. In any case isn't NI part of this island too but prices much cheaper there. We are part of a much bigger union than NI so the reason can be pointed squarely at the government here. It could be that compo culture and very high legal costs have now seeped into prices across the board
 
joe sod said:
Thats just making excuses, we used to be much cheaper and way cheaper than the scandinavian countries, and we were an island back then too. In any case isn't NI part of this island too but prices much cheaper there. We are part of a much bigger union than NI so the reason can be pointed squarely at the government here. It could be that compo culture and very high legal costs have now seeped into prices across the board
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I don’t think it’s making excuses. Surely we import more nowadays than we did previously? And it’s harder to deliver stuff to Ireland, so why wouldn’t lots of things be more expensive? If this was a table quiz, and Europeans were asked which country has the highest prices, wouldn’t the only true island be most people’s pick?
 
Gordon Gekko said:
We are the only fully island country in Europe, so shouldn’t our prices be the highest?
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Sure, there's a cost for shipping to consider, when we talk about imports, but that doesn't justify home produced goods costing more here, than abroad.

The title "Rip Off Ireland" didn't come from no where!

As time moves on, I think about retiring abroad, more and more....
 
joe sod said:
Thats just making excuses, we used to be much cheaper and way cheaper than the scandinavian countries, and we were an island back then too.
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We were also an economic basket case. Now we are one of the richest countries in the world with very high levels of social transfers and a high minimum wage. If you want middle income people to feel well off then you need a very poor underclass, like in much of the USA. We are one of the most equal countries in the world due to being one of the most socialist countries in the world. That means services which rely on low skilled labour are more expensive.
 
According to Country Economy the annualized minimum wage for 2023 in Malta is €10,022, in Cyprus it is €11,280,and in Ireland it is €22,916.
 
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