Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In Ireland there are approximately 200,000 visually impaired people and approximately 14,000 who are blind. They cannot see what is happening around them, including the beautiful view and the smile on their grandchild's face. They lose independence and confidence. However, most cases of blindness are preventable and some 75% of them need not arise. That they do is a scandal and a disgrace. Treatments and therapies, including preventive therapies, are available for the four main conditions, namely, cataracts, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Preventable blindness is not just a Third World issue; it is also an Irish issue.

Approximately four years ago, my brother, Anthony, became one of the 14,000 who suffered from blindness in Ireland. My family has seen at first hand the difficulties he faces every day. Not only do he and others like him miss seeing beautiful things, but their day-to-day working lives are also complicated by practical difficulties. We should reflect on the fact that half of those aged over 80 years suffer from one of the four main eye diseases. Those with a visual impairment are eight times more likely to break a hip, three times more likely to suffer from depression and are admitted to nursing homes three years sooner than others.

It is not only the human cost that I want to consider because there are serious economic costs associated with sight loss. Blindness in Ireland cost €386 million in 2010 and that figure is expected to rise with current trends to €486 million by 2020. According to the National Coalition for Vision Health in Ireland, a fully implemented strategy to reduce preventable blindness would save thousands of people from blindness and visual impairment and the Exchequer an estimated €76 million per annum. There is a need to redeploy and invest in current services to achieve these savings. We need a national vision strategy in order that professionals can provide good care in community and hospital settings. Imagine preventing almost 200 people a year from going blind and making a saving for the Exchequer; it is a no-brainer and makes sense.

What do we need to do? The National Coalition for Vision Health in Ireland argues that if we introduce interventions such as screening for cataracts and diabetic retinopathy, in addition to early intervention, we could ensure the eyesight of hundreds of people would be retained. The human tragedy of blindness could be significantly decreased. The national coalition believes we should have a national strategy with strategic infrastructure and resources to deliver care. This includes attending opticians, patients accessing community and hospital-based eye services and service user groups such as the NCBI and the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. The strength of the national vision strategy is based on a coming together across the spectrum of all the groups involved, including the NCBI, Fighting Blindness, the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, ChildVision, the Irish College of Ophthalmologists, the Association of Optometrists Ireland, Diabetes Ireland and health care professionals, including Dr. David Keegan from the Mater Hospital.

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