John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the various contributors. I had not realised that so many people in this Chamber were such extraordinary experts in the arcane details of the optical specialties. I say well done all round. Much research has gone into this.

I remind the Minister of State of two facts. First, it was the Irish College of Ophthalmologists that approached me. It was medical doctors - the people who deal with diseases of the eye - who were unhappy with this. It was because neither they nor I wanted to make it look as though there was any question of our trying to protect a closed shop for them that we never said "should consult an ophthalmologist"; it was "consult a medical practitioner". I agree with other speakers that there is a craziness in the way referral patterns work in Ireland. We are mandated to go through general practice at times when it is highly inappropriate to do specialist-to-specialist referrals, but that is the way it is. Therefore, we kept it broad and said patients should see a medical practitioner. That is the reason we did it.

The second fact refers to people acting responsibly within the scope of their practice. It was the power that the registration boards have to define the scope of the practice which led to the concerns of the ophthalmologists that a group of people who are not medical doctors could make a decision as to what was and was not appropriate within the realm of medical diseases for a patient to be referred to a doctor.

That is why we said it happens 99.99% of the time. Nobody is perfect, whether a doctor or an optician. There are things we have to do legally and this is a reasonable provision to put in regulation. In no way does it limit the scope of anyone's practice.