Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I welcome the Minister of State and we are honoured that she is attending the House on her first day in her new portfolio. She comes here with a huge amount of enthusiasm and commitment. I hope she will place diabetes, and diabetic retinopathy in particular, high on her list of priorities. While I do not have medical expertise, it seems one of the things that can be done is to remind people they can do something about their lifestyles even before being screened. It was interesting to hear Senator Walsh talk about using the stairs instead of the lift. In the 1940s, when I was about six years of age, I remember my father saying he heard a doctor on the radio stating that people were not getting enough exercise. The doctor suggested that people should always run up stairs instead of walking up them. I got into the habit of doing that and my father also did so for many years. The Minister of State can remind people that they can do something about their health through a change of lifestyle.

Both here and abroad, a large amount of research is taking place into diseases that affect the eyes. We must continue to invest in such research which will pay for itself in many ways. An interesting article was published recently on macular degeneration which reported on a successful outcome as a result of stem cell research. Within two years they believe they will be able to solve that problem, although I am not sure of the method involved or whether it will be acceptable to everybody. Nonetheless, it appears it is possible to do something in this regard.

Senator Feeney mentioned how horrific it is to lose one's eyesight. I know of one young woman who was on one of the supermarket customer panels. She had lost her eyesight, but gave great example to others by saying she was not going to let it beat her, that she was going to beat it. She was able to prove that the ability to conquer adversity is within ourselves.

Diabetes affects approximately one in 25 patients in the developed world, and the incidence of diabetes in Ireland is increasing. As the Minister of State told us, it is expected that up to 5.6% of the population will be affected by 2015. In Ireland, diabetic retinopathy accounts for 12% of all new cases of blindness each year. It is the leading cause of blindness in patients between the ages of 20 and 65. After 65, macular degeneration probably affects eyesight more.

Diabetes can affect the eye in various ways, but the most serious effects are through problems in the retina. This is called diabetic retinopathy. Having diabetes does not mean that a person will necessarily have eye problems. However, it is important that regular eye examinations are carried out to ensure potential problems are diagnosed early. That is really the point — it does not cost money, it just involves reminding people to have such checks. Sight loss from diabetes can usually be prevented if diabetic retinopathy is diagnosed and treated early.

I was also interested in another statistic according to which diabetes affects one in every 100 adult Europeans. It can affect blood vessels in the eye causing damage to the retina, but the condition needs to be treated early. Diabetes experts have warned that Ireland has fallen far behind other European countries in the prevention of blindness from diabetes retina eye diseases. Eye complications of diabetes are the most common cause of blindness in this country.

Senator Feeney referred to a debate held on this issue around three years ago. Four years ago, Ireland was a signatory to a European agreement which set specific targets for retinopathy screening. Since then, the Department of Health and Children and Health Service Executive have not made significant progress in expanding diabetes eye screening programmes, the national diabetes screening programme which was recommended by the Department in 2006 and the pilot programme for the west approved in 2007. The Minister of State has given us hope that progress will be made in this regard.

It is known that many people with diabetes in Ireland are suffering unnecessarily from vision loss and blindness as a result of the lack of an effective screening programme to detect eye disease at an early stage. Such a programme would allow for effective treatment interventions. Experts state that between 3% and 5% of those with diabetes develop sight threatening retinopathy each year and many will continue to go without necessary early treatment in the absence of an organised screening programme. It is urgent, therefore, that progress is made on a nationwide screening programme.

Last month, I read a story in the Irish Examiner about a diabetic, Mr. Chris Murphy, who suffers from blindness in one eye and claims the health service was to blame for his condition. According to the article, Mr. Murphy, a former construction worker, "is now terrified when he wakes up every morning, in case he finds he has lost the use of the other eye" and "even now cannot get a full eye check every six months, as he has been advised to do". The article continues:

In August 2000, when he attended the hospital's eye clinic, he was told his appointment had been cancelled and the receptionist apologised for not contacting him. Several weeks earlier, he had moved to London to work but wanted to return to Dublin simply to attend the clinic because of growing concerns for his eyes. He woke up one morning in October the same year to find he was blind in the left eye.

"If that clinic had not been cancelled the blood vessels which had burst would have been seen and lasered, preventing the blindness. That is what the wonderful staff at London's Moorfield Eye Hospital told me," he said. Staff at the London hospital set about treating his right eye and, a year later, through intricate surgery managed to return over 50% vision to his left eye.

I refer to Mr. Murphy's case because it demonstrates that it is possible to address the problem. Professor John Nolan, the consultant diabetes specialist in St. James's Hospital in Dublin, states that the Department and HSE have known for many years that providing diabetes eye screening throughout the country is straightforward and simple, would provide for early diagnosis and treatment of eye conditions and would not cost much to establish. He also noted that eye screening programmes are currently only available on a piecemeal basis in some areas. It has reached the point where screenings are being organised independently, for example, in the north east, north west and Galway, as the Minister of State informed us.

More than 80 people with diabetic retinopathy were referred to the National Council for the Blind of Ireland's services in 2008 alone. How many more people will lose their sight over the next two years before a screening programme is up and running? This is a challenge for the Minister.

The cost of screening and the subsequent treatment of eye disease is often lower than the cost of dealing with diabetic eye disease that has not been detected at an early stage through screening. The failure to detect cases of diabetic eye disease causes terrible human suffering and has a substantial economic impact. We must do our utmost to introduce a screening system to help prevent this avoidable suffering.

The reason I raise this issue is that, on occasion, we hear from people who are seeking more money. A screening programme in this area would appear to offer good value for money because by preventing disease it would save money. I urge the Minister to give it a high priority.