Mr. Aaron Mullaniff:

Age-related macular degeneration, AMD, is the most common condition in people over 50. Every third referral coming through the doors of Vision Ireland relates to AMD. There are two kinds, the dry kind and the wet kind. A proportion of the dry kind can gradually become wet in nature and can also lead to a pretty rapid and significant form of blindness which requires regular anti-VEGF injections. We know that a significant proportion of people on the waiting list at the moment are experiencing symptoms of AMD. There is no doubt that a level of avoidable blindness is happening. This is a condition that can be detected with better screening, but, unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge that is not happening at the moment.