Consequently, an influx of persons who claimed to be ophthalmic opticians and who had been excluded from the National Health Service arrived in Ireland, where there were no barriers to their activities at that time. As evidence of these matters built up, the then Minister for Health and his officials accepted the need for legislation to ensure adequate standards of training and education for those entering the professions, and controls on their activities and behaviour. The Opticians Bill was subsequently introduced in July 1955 and was passed in 1956. Following the appointment of the first Opticians Board and approval by the Minister for Health of the rules made under the Act, the provisions came into force in 1959.