Tax Reliefs
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-04
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Robert Troy (FF), Longford-Westmeath

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. He has made some very valid points and I share his concern about the need for the Government to support the working family man and woman.
Section 470 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for tax relief for private health insurance. This relief is in respect of payments made to authorised insurers under relevant contracts for medical insurance and dental insurance. Income tax relief is granted at the standard rate of income tax, currently 20%, subject to certain limitations on the amount of the premium, and it covers benefits which are the reimbursement or discharge of health expenses within the meaning of health expenses tax relief.
The amount qualifying for tax relief is limited in the case of an adult to the lesser of 20% of the eligible premium paid or €1,000 per annum and in the case of a child to the lesser of 20% of the eligible premium paid or €500 per annum. A "child" for all such policies is a person under 21 years of age in respect of whom a child premium has been paid.
Where an individual publishes a policy of health or dental insurance, the tax relief is granted at source. This is given as a discount on the cost of the policy so the insurance provider charges the premium less the tax relief to the individual, whether or not that individual is liable to income tax. Where an individual has a policy of medical or dental insurance paid for by the employer and on which they are taxed through payroll as a benefit-in-kind, the tax relief may be claimed by filling in an income tax return.
The current ceilings on the premium values qualifying for tax relief were introduced in budget 2014 as the cost of tax relief had increased significantly in the preceding years. In addition, despite the increasing cost of the relief, the numbers insured were estimated to have reduced by around 150,000 over the period, while the level of medical cover had decreased on some policies. Against this backdrop, the increase in cost was unsustainable.
This is one of the most broadly claimed tax reliefs and, therefore, is very costly to the Exchequer. In 2023, over 1.4 million policyholders benefited from the relief and the associated Exchequer cost was €450 million. The current ceilings for the relief ensure a level of continuing support via the tax system for those who purchase medical insurance policies, while reducing Exchequer exposure to more expensive policies. Providing tax relief at source ensures individuals on lower incomes can receive the full benefit of the available relief.
Tax relief in respect of medical insurance is always applied at the standard rate of income tax and there are no current plans to enhance that tax relief. As an enhancement to the value of relief available may be absorbed by price rises, it is possible that enhancing the relief could lead to price increases further than would have been incurred in the absence of any changes to the relief.
As with all taxation measures, these are kept under review as part of the annual budgetary process. I have no doubt that the Senator will use his position within his own party to engage with his party leader, who is the senior Minister in the Department which I serve, and feed into the budgetary considerations that will commence mid-year.
We can take heart from his interview a week ago which confirmed that as part of budget 2027, there will be taxation changes to favour people who are working and who need a break and support in the budget of next year.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-04/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:35+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-04