David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and genuinely wish him well in his new role. It has been considered a poisoned chalice for a long number of years but I hope it will not be for him and he brings real reform to the health service.

I commend the Government and Fine Gael Senators for proposing a good motion. Normally, when the Government tables a motion in the Seanad we, in Sinn Féin, amend it but on rare occasions, such as this one, we do not. My party supports the motion and believe it should receive cross-party support.

I wish to take the opportunity to commend the work of the National Vision Council - some of its members are seated in the Visitors Gallery - and its component organisations on the work they have done over many years, and in more recent years, as part of the coalition. On a practical basis, the help and support they give people in the visually impaired and sight loss community is an inspiration. On a strategic policy level, their approach to advocacy and building an argument is an example to many.

I want to especially support the call for implementation of a national vision strategy in today's Private Members' motion. We need action more than words and that action, in the main, needs to come from the very party that proposed the motion. I am sure that the proposer supports and agrees with me that it is up to the Government to deliver on the strategy and one cannot look to what Fianna Fáil or any Opposition party did in the past or what they might do in the future. Fine Gael and the Labour Party are now in government and so have an opportunity to deliver. The Minister for Health has a responsibility and opportunity to deliver on the strategy rather than just sit hear and listen to us. He is in a much stronger position than any of us to deliver and I hope he does. I also believe that the objectives set out in the motion are achievable if the right energy is focused on the issue.

The stakes are very high because more than 220,000 people are blind or vision impaired in Ireland. That figure is expected to grow substantially due to an ageing population. A total of 13,840 people in the State are blind and the figure has increased by 7% since 2011. The figures are a stark reminder of the significance of our efforts and of what we need to do in this area.

We know from the National Vision Coalition's latest report that despite 75% to 80% of blindness being preventable, five people per week have become blind since 2010. We also know that the total cost of blindness and vision impairment to the State is €205 million per annum.

The report entitled Economic Cost and Burden of Eye Diseases and Preventable Blindness in Ireland found that 2.1 million healthy days are lost per annum as a consequence of vision impairment or blindness and it cost €205 million in 2010 with a potential to save up to €76 million if a series of cost-effective measures to prevent four main eye diseases are implemented. In its report, the economic impact of a failure by successive Governments to act is quantified in euro and cent. To some degree, it is a damning indictment of the way politics is done and of our political system that advocacy and campaigning groups feel the need to make an economic argument by reducing the problem down to euro and cent. Heaven forbid that a Government would implement a national vision strategy because it is the right thing to do.

Leaving aside the economic cost there is a human cost too which we can prevent if we put in the resources. That is not to say resources are not being put in or I do not welcome what is being spent in this area. I am simply citing the National Vision Coalition's report and other reports that show we can invest much more in preventive measures that, in turn, will save money and prevent citizens from suffering blindness and visual impairment. That is what we need to do, namely, invest more money.

Recommended interventions include screening for diabetic retinopathy, which allows for earlier access to treatment, screening for cataracts and access to surgery when needed. They are simple and reasonable demands which should happen not because they offer an economic benefit but because they greatly improve the quality of life for individuals. It has been internationally recognised that screening and treatment of diabetic retinopathy is one of the most effective interventions ever investigated and prevents 6% of potential blindness in the first year of treatment.

The Government has just six years to eliminate avoidable blindness which is in line with its commitment with the World Health Organization's objective of Vision 2020. It is high time we got on with the job of just doing what we need to do. I commend and support the motion even though it is a Government one. I appeal to the Minister to implement the strategy, put resources in place and support the organisations which have done a huge amount of work and presented him with unassailable and indisputable facts. I look forward to his contribution. Go raibh maith agat.