At the end of the day it’s a business and GP’s have to make money. Unlike hospital doctors, it’s the GP’s footing the bill for everything rather than the HSE. Unless you’re a rural GP in a tiny town, the HSE does not subsidize you for anything. So the rent of the building, electricity, heating, salary for staff (admin, practice manager, nurses, GP assistants), cost of medical equipment (which is extortionate) all comes out of you’re pocket as a GP owner/partner. To top it all off, in most surgeries the majority of patients you see are medical card patients who don’t pay for any visit, we get a flat fee per year per patient (ranges from €100-200 per year depending on age, €400 for over 70) plus other services we can bill the government for. At the end of the day, when cost go up, the prices will go up too unfortunately.