Drugs Payment Scheme card: the €80 cap, explained

A Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS) card caps what you and your family pay for approved prescription medicines at €80 in any calendar month. There is no means test and no cost to apply — if you live in Ireland and do not have a medical card, you should have one.

Apply to the HSE at mydps.ie. This page covers who counts as family, what happens at the pharmacy counter, and the two-pharmacy trap that costs people money.

What the €80 cap covers

Once you hold a DPS card, €80 a month is the most your household pays for approved prescribed drugs and medicines, CPAP machine rental, and oxygen rental.

The cap has been €80 since 1 March 2022. It runs on a calendar month, not a rolling 30 days — a prescription filled on 31 January and another on 1 February fall in two separate months, each with its own €80 ceiling.

Where the HSE has set a reference price for a drug, it uses that price to work out your monthly cost rather than the branded shelf price. If your pharmacist offers a generic, that is usually why.

The card also unlocks free HRT. Since 1 June 2025, if you are prescribed hormone replacement therapy and registered for the scheme, you can get free HRT from any participating pharmacy. You need the DPS card to access it — the main reason people who spend well under €80 a month should still apply.

Who qualifies

Anyone living in Ireland who intends to stay at least a year — the test is “ordinarily resident”. There is no means test, so income, savings and employment status are irrelevant. The one exclusion: medical card holders are not eligible, because the medical card covers prescription charges on different terms.

The €80 is a household cap, not per person, which is what makes it valuable. A family is an adult, their spouse or partner, children under 18, children aged 18 to 23 in full-time education, and any family member with a physical disability, intellectual disability or illness who cannot maintain themselves.

For the 18-to-23 group, section 2 of the application form must be stamped by the school or university. For a family member who cannot maintain themselves, include a medical report. Anyone over 18 not in full-time education applies for their own card.

How to apply

Online at mydps.ie — fastest, with a reference number issued immediately so you can track it. By post, using the HSE form (ring 0818 224 478 for one, or collect it at a local health office), sent to: Drugs Payment Scheme, Eligibility Unit, PO Box 11745, Dublin 11. Or by email, sending a scan or clear photo of the form to [email protected].

You need, for everyone on the application: full name, date of birth, sex, PPS number, address and contact details, plus your existing DPS card number if you have one. You also need proof you are ordinarily resident (a current electricity bill does it) and stamped proof of full-time education for any 18-to-23-year-old.

Incomplete applications take longer because the HSE has to come back to you. PPS numbers are the field people most often leave blank — our PPS number guide explains where to find yours.

If you need medicine before your card arrives, your pharmacy can submit a temporary once-off emergency registration. That covers you immediately, but you must still apply properly within three months.

How it works at the pharmacy

Show your card each time you collect medication. You do not register with a particular pharmacy and can use any you like.

But use the same one all month. This is the biggest gotcha in the scheme. Each pharmacy only sees what you have spent with them, so splitting prescriptions across two pharmacies in one calendar month means neither knows you have hit €80 — and you pay over the cap. If that happens, claim the excess back using the HSE refund claim form (print it, get one from your primary care centre, or ring 0818 224 478), post it to the address on the form, and track it at drugspayment.ie.

The HSE has temporarily paused printing plastic DPS cards. This is current as of 1 August 2026 and affects some other health cards too. Existing cards remain valid. New applicants get a letter containing their card details, usable at the pharmacy in place of the card, and a digital version in the HSE Health App — usually before the letter arrives.

Renewing your card

DPS cards expire. There is a ‘Valid to’ date on the card, and when it passes you apply again from scratch — no renewal form, no automatic rollover. Check validity using the HSE’s online eligibility status check; reapply at mydps.ie.

To change your address, update it online — you need names and PPS numbers for everyone on the card plus a utility bill, rent agreement, bank statement or government letter dated within 12 months. To add a dependant, or report a lost or damaged card, email [email protected] or ring 0818 224 478.

DPS and the other schemes

Scheme	What it does	Means tested?
Drugs Payment Scheme	Caps household prescription costs at €80 a month	No
Long-Term Illness Scheme	Free drugs and appliances for treating one of 16 listed conditions, including diabetes, epilepsy, MS and cystic fibrosis	No
Medical card	Covers prescription charges on different terms — you cannot hold a medical card and a DPS card	Yes

A Long-Term Illness Scheme card only covers medicines for that specific condition, so a DPS card is still worth holding for everything else. The two work together.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the Drugs Payment Scheme threshold in 2026?

€80 per calendar month, per family. It has been €80 since 1 March 2022, down from €100 before that and €144 before 2018.

Is the scheme means tested, and does it cost anything?

No to both. There is no income test — anyone ordinarily resident in Ireland without a medical card can apply — and applying is free. You only pay for the medicines, up to the €80 ceiling.

Is the €80 per person or per family?

Per family. One adult, their partner, children under 18, children aged 18 to 23 in full-time education, and any dependent family member who cannot maintain themselves all share one €80 cap.

I paid more than €80 in one month. Can I get it back?

Yes — this usually happens when you use two or more pharmacies in the same month. Fill in the HSE refund claim form, post it to the address on the form, and track it at drugspayment.ie.

My DPS card has expired, or hasn’t arrived. What now?

Expired cards are reapplied for rather than renewed, fastest online at mydps.ie. If your plastic card has not arrived, printing is paused — you get a letter with your card details and a digital version in the HSE Health App, and both work at the counter.

Do I have to use the same pharmacy every time?

You are not required to and you do not register with one. But stick to a single pharmacy within each calendar month — separate pharmacies cannot see each other’s totals, so you may pay over the €80 cap.