The National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) was established in Ireland in 1998 and is funded by the Dept. of Health and Children.

The aim of the centre is to promote expertise in Ireland for the advancement of the discipline of pharmacoeconomics through practice, research and education. Activities of the centre include economic evaluation of pharmaceutical products and the development of cost effective prescribing.

Since September 2009 in collaboration with the HSE Corporate Pharmaceutical Unit (HSE-CPU) we now consider the cost effectiveness of all new medicines following receipt of an application for reimbursement under the Community Drugs Schemes. 

In practice, all medicines will be subjected to a preliminary rapid review.  High cost products and those with significant budget impact will be subjected to formal pharmacoeconomic assessment.  Similarly, products where there is a query in relation to value for money will also be selected for formal pharmacoeconomic assessment. 

The rapid review process takes approximately 2 weeks and the formal pharmacoeconomic assessment is completed in less than 3 months.