More than €10 million has been allocated for cosmetic and plastic surgeries in public hospitals over the past three years, covering procedures such as breast augmentation, liposuction, and facelifts.
Since 2021, a total of 1,908 patients have undergone surgeries like nose jobs, brow lifts, and breast reductions in state-funded hospitals, amounting to €10.4 million. Specifically, 87 patients received facelifts, brow lifts, and neck lifts, costing €316,371, while 288 patients had eyelid excisions, which remove excess skin or fat from the eyelids, at a cost of €634,781.
Breast augmentation surgeries were performed on more than 140 patients, costing just over €1 million, and nearly 550 patients had breast reduction procedures, which totaled almost €5.5 million. Additionally, public hospitals conducted just over 160 rhinoplasty operations between 2021 and 2023, costing €893,148. Procedures involving the application, insertion, and removal of breast implants for 158 patients accounted for €444,072.
Liposuction and lipectomy procedures were conducted on 247 patients at a cost of nearly €1.8 million. The Health Service Executive (HSE) previously described liposuction on its website as a cosmetic procedure intended to improve appearance rather than health.
The HSE has stated that it is not feasible to determine the exact portion of the total cost funded by taxpayers, private health insurers, or other means. The figures, released by the HSE under freedom of information laws, pertain to both public and private patients.
“For public patients, these procedures are performed for clinical, not cosmetic, purposes, based on a clinical diagnosis by a medical consultant,” said an HSE spokesperson.
“The HSE provides and occasionally funds surgeries aimed at correcting disfigurement or restoring function lost due to accidents, birth defects, or disease treatment, or in some cases, to address psychological distress caused by such conditions, as diagnosed by a consultant plastic surgeon.”
Recent data indicate that the number of patients undergoing plastic surgery in public hospitals increased by over eight percent between 2021 and 2023, with the annual cost rising by €224,171 to over €3.6 million last year.
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