Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is the first health-related Bill of the new session and I welcome the Minister of State but I wonder when the Minister for Health will make his opening contribution. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. The explanatory memorandum indicates the Bill's main purpose is to subsume Bord na Radharcmhastóirí, the Opticians Board, into the Health and Social Care Professionals Council, CORU, divide the designated profession of radiographer into two designated professions of radiographer and radiation therapist and ensure that statutory contributions are payable by recipients of residential support services who are maintained, though not directly accommodated, by or on behalf of the Health Service Executive.

I have been contacted by the Association of Optometrists Ireland - I am sure this applies to everyone here - and they are in broad support of the section dealing with eye care. That this bill will facilitate increased care at primary level is to be welcomed. The fact that all parties to this proposed change have been consulted is also to be welcomed. I note also that the Department of Health patient safety committee has acknowledged that there is no risk to patient safety if Bord na Radharcmhastóirí is subsumed into the Health and Social Care Professionals Council.

I have also received correspondence from the Federation of (Ophthalmic and Dispensing) Opticians Ireland, which represents eye care providers and registered opticians in business in Ireland. While they are supportive of an update to the Act of 1956 they are concerned about sections 81A and 81B of the draft Bill. These sections state that spectacles may only be dispensed or sold by a registered medical practitioner or a registrant of the designated profession of optometrist of dispensing optician. The members of the federation inform me that currently, while optometrists conduct eye examinations and prescriptions are dispensed by dispensing opticians, they are often assisted by other trained members of staff with tasks such as the selection of frames and the processing of payments. I have been through the process a number of times in my life. They say that the result of these sections is that current practice would be prohibited. The members of the federation see current practice as both safe and an efficient use of skilled time. They are also concerned that if these sections remain in the Bill they could lead to restrictions on access to eye care, including sight tests, an increase in costs for members and the taxpayer and an increase in prices for the patient. I raise these matters on Second Stage because I believe they need to be addressed by the Minister and the Department. I hope my points receive responses when the Minister of State responds to this debate.

To require an optometrist or a dispensing optician to conduct the entire sale, they say, would be a poor use of the time of a clinically skilled professional. They also say that this very specific requirement is not something that is specified in the cases of other clinical professions regulated by CORU. I therefore seek clarification as to whether the Bill allows registered optometrists or dispensing opticians to delegate certain non-clinical functions of the dispense, for example the selection of frames, and the sale of spectacles to suitably qualified staff working under their supervision. Some people buy non-prescription spectacles off the shelf so there is a need to clarify the impact and intent of the sections mentioned.

This is the first Bill to be brought forward in the new Minister's term. I had intended stating "by the new Minister" but this apparently is not the case. Much has changed, it appears, in Government policy since his arrival. Gone are some of the core objectives of the former Minister and in their place we have but guarantees of a continuing - with respect - unfair two-tier health system. I note that to date six registration boards have been established for social workers, radiographers, dietitians, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. It is a great pity that these are among the very same services the Government has targeted for cutbacks. Sadly, it is the most vulnerable in society who are most affected by the cuts introduced in the years of austerity under the former Fianna Fáil Government, and continued and deepened by the Fine Gael and Labour Party coalition. The very young and those who have lived longer lives, those with disabilities and those in under-resourced and deprived areas already at a disadvantage see supports continually chipped away.

I further note that no mention is made of the remaining professions of the 12 that had previously been designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005, specifically the roles of clinical biochemist, medical scientist, orthoptist, podiatrist, and psychologist. I ask the Minister of State for an update on the development of a framework for the regulation of these professions. If she put it on the record in her opening contribution, I apologise. The debate started way ahead of the signalled time on my schedule-----

See this speech in context