A €5 rise in the fee for attending an accident and emergency unit, bringing the charge to €60, was among a number of increases in hospital charges outlined in yesterday's Estimates.
There will also be an increase of €5 in statutory in-patient bed charges, bringing this fee to €60 per night, payable for a maximum of 10 nights a year.
In addition a 10 per cent increase in the charges raised by hospitals from private beds has been announced.
Minister for Health Mary Harney said the increased A&E and bed charges would raise €23 million in a full year for health services.
Her aim in increasing the A&E charge, she said, was to try to ensure A&E units were used appropriately. She wants people to go to their GP rather than their A&E.
Even with the increase in private bed charges, she said, the cost of providing services to private patients in the major hospitals remained "significantly greater" than the income from private health insurance companies in many cases.
"In the interests of equity it is Government policy to gradually eliminate the subsidy and relieve the general taxpayers of the burden of carrying these costs.
"The increase being implemented is aimed at closing that gap," she said.
This is bound to have a knock on effect on the cost of private health insurance policies next year.
There was no change in this year's health Estimates to the threshold for the drugs payment scheme or to medical card eligibility guidelines.
Ms Harney said she had increased the income threshold for medical cards by 29 per cent in the past year alone.