Health Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-09
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Mary Butler (FF), Waterford

It is great to have the opportunity to discuss the reform of eye care services in line with emerging trends across the country. Deputy Michael Murphy, who is sitting in front of Deputy Moynihan, has discussed with me several times the issue of getting the right clinicians into the job. We have been really challenged, for example, in south Tipperary in getting a consultant optometrist in there to fill that post. That is why it is really important we have the training skills across the country. We do not have enough positions at the moment. I am strongly of that opinion and we are trying to change that. That is really important.
The Deputy talked about eye care. Often when we think of eyes, we think about the glasses or the contact lenses but eye care is very important. There is a huge amount of work done with older people with dementia, macular degeneration and cataracts. It is very important that the quality of life of a person can be so much improved if they have the correct eye care.
Myopia - short-sightedness or nearsightedness - is increasing among children both globally and in Ireland. Research indicates that daily outdoor activities and managing children's screen time and sleep time may be beneficial for slowing the progress of myopia. Children discovered to have sight problems, including myopia, during HSE screenings get free treatment from their local HSE integrated eye care team, but I am conscious of waiting lists and where a young child is waiting. I am conscious again of the situation in south Tipperary, which has been raised. We failed over the past two years to get a consultant in post, and that ends up creating very long waiting lists for children. As we all know, regardless of what health issue it is, early intervention is key.
I will raise with the Minister again the prescribing element of it, because the more services we can move away from the acute hospital setting and into the community, the better. I thank the Deputy again for raising this.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-09