James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

For the record, we did not have a debate on this issue. We had statements on it which is quite a different matter. Will the Minister bear in mind that approximately 5% to 10% of people with diabetes have sight-threatening retinopathy? This requires treatment and if they do not receive it, some 14,000 to 16,000 will end up with sight-threatening retinopathy by the end of next year. The cost of providing a comprehensive retinopathy programme is approximately €1.9 million with ongoing costs of €2.5 million per year. The cost to the State of the care of 100 people who are sight impaired runs to €2.4 million. For the price of looking after 100 blind people, we can prevent thousands of cases of blindness. If there was ever a case of penny wise pound foolish, this is it.

I recounted the story at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children, and I will repeat it here, of a gentleman who went blind waiting for an outpatient's appointment. He went to England and had partial sight restored to his left eye. He has returned here and on at least three occasions prior to a six month appointment he was told it had been put back for another six months. This man is extremely angry for his own sake and for the sake of the many other people he knows who suffer the same consequences. It is a small amount of money for what is a form of prevention. Tough decisions will always have to be made, but we must invest in prevention to save money tomorrow. For every euro we spend on prevention, between €12 and €20 will be saved on treatment, and this €1.9 million needs to be made available.

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