Mr. Aaron Mullaniff:

There is no national registry for diabetes, just as there is no national registry for blindness. That is a problem in itself.

A number of factors can have an impact, such as poor diet and obesity, and we are seeing more and more of that. High blood sugar levels are responsible for damaging the retina, which creates a bleed or a haemorrhage behind the eye and, thus, can lead to diabetic retinopathy. The figure we are working off was provided by Diabetes Ireland. It is about 300,000 people or so. We know, based on our own statistics, that at about 10% of those people will come through the doors of Vision Ireland and that is quite a sad reality.

I acknowledge the work being done by Professor David Keegan, who has been the lead for diabetic retina screening. That screening programme is focusing specifically on those people who have diabetes and has been very successful. It is probably one of the better areas where we have been much more proactive as a State.