What the price leaves out
- Flights and several nights' accommodation: clinics there typically ask you to stay three or four days for laser and about a week for lens surgery.
- The check-ups at about a week, three months and a year, which you either travel back for or arrange privately at home.
- Top-ups: ask whether they are included, for how long, and whether you have to travel for one.
The official advice
The Department of Foreign Affairs advises anyone going abroad for a medical or cosmetic procedure to research the provider's credentials independently, check the facility is accredited in that country, find out what legal action is possible if something goes wrong, talk to your own doctor first, have proper travel insurance, ask for a discharge summary in English, and know what follow-up you will need. The EHIC card isn't valid outside the EU, and the Department can't give financial or legal help afterwards.
Tax relief abroad
Revenue allows tax relief on treatment abroad if the practitioner is registered in that country, but travel and accommodation only count when the treatment isn't available in Ireland. Laser eye surgery is, so the flights and hotel don't qualify.
If you do go
- Get a written plan before you book: who operates, the exact treatment, what is included, the follow-up schedule and who you contact at home.
- Get your full assessment results and the operation notes in English.
- Arrange your Irish check-ups before you travel.
- Don't book on the day of a free consultation. The same week to think applies abroad as at home.
In Ireland
LASIK costs €1,500 to €2,600 per eye, LASEK €800 to €2,600, usually with the first months of aftercare included. Assessments and check-ups are within reach of most counties.
Questions people ask
Is laser eye surgery in Turkey safe?
Many clinics there use the same lasers as Irish clinics. The risk is less the operation than the aftercare: a problem in week two is harder to deal with from home.
Can I claim tax relief on laser eye surgery in Turkey?
On the treatment itself, if the surgeon is registered there. Not on flights or hotels, because the treatment is available in Ireland.
Will an Irish clinic look after me afterwards?
Some will, privately and at a cost. Ask before you travel, not after.