19 December 2025

FODO Ireland member update – 19 December

Latest news:

• Season's greetings from FODO Ireland's chair
• Opening hours over the festive period
• Regulator report shows shifting landscape of registrants
• FODO Ireland responds to bill on regulated professions
• ECOO welcomes more robust driving rules
• Ear to the ground
• Health policy

Season's greetings from FODO Ireland's chair 

As the year draws to a close, Garvan Mulligan, chair of FODO Ireland, reflects on the work we have been doing on our members' behalf:
 
"2025 has been another busy year for FODO Ireland and the HQ team, representing our members' interests at all levels of government and locally with CHOs. Our primary concern has been the need to increase sight-test funding for both the PRSI and medical card schemes. This work has involved behind-the-scenes efforts to put pressure on the government while providing information to members and not inadvertently doing anything to undermine Optometry Ireland's legal challenge to ministers.
 
"FODO Ireland members have successfully worked with HSE on the online COSS pilot to speed up medical card applications for sight tests. We have continued to press the government to improve services for children. We also backed the opportunities for independent prescribing in the Regulated Professions Bill and the widening of eye care outside hospital that this should enable. This work will continue at pace in 2026.
 
"FODO Ireland's educational charity has also been working closely with SETU to establish a new optometry programme in Waterford which we hope to launch in 2027. This will significantly increase the number of homegrown Irish optometrists.
 
"In the meantime, thank you to all our members who continue to contact us, and for your support and friendship during the past year. I, the FODO Ireland directors and team, wish you all a Happy Christmas and a successful 2026." 

Opening hours over the festive period

Thank you for your continued support this year. We wish you all a joyful festive break and a Happy New Year.  
 
A reminder that our operating hours for the Christmas and New Year period are:

• 25-26 December: Closed
• 1 January: Closed

Members who need support outside hours should email [email protected]. We will respond within 48 hours and provide a contact number if your query is urgent and requires a same-day response.

Regulator report shows shifting landscape of registrants

CORU has published its first detailed analysis of registrants across the 12 health and social care professions it regulates, including optometrists and dispensing opticians. The report provides a demographic breakdown of more than 32,000 health and social care professionals. Read more in Clarity, FODO Group's online web magazine, which launched this year.

FODO Ireland responds to bill on regulated professions

FODO Ireland has responded to the health minister's Consultation on the Proportionality of the Regulated Professions Bill, which aims to enhance the efficiency of fitness to practise processes and enable CORU's registration boards to set standards for post-registration training. Read our response.

ECOO welcomes more robust driving rules

The European Council of Optometry and Optics has welcomed updated rules on driving licences that include more robust provisions for assessing eyesight. ECOO has been actively engaged in contributing to the development of this new directive, seeking to ensure the eyesight provisions are clarified and strengthened. 
 
The preamble emphasises the importance of ensuring adequate vision at a driver's first application and throughout their driving career. ECOO has published a short briefing paper outlining the directive's provisions on vision. 
 
FODO Ireland is also in the process of finalising new guidance and will publish this in early 2026.

At a glance

• CORU is inviting expressions of interest from experienced registrants for its appeals committee. Read more
• HSE is to roll out a standardised cataract referral letter for community optometrists, as reported by Clarity news from the Eye Care in Focus conference
• ECOO Blue Book 2025 reveals the latest trends in the eye care profession across 27 countries, including Ireland. Read more
• The Irish-owned Cardinal Capital Group invests €30 million in the Cathedral Eye Clinic in Belfast, which will allow its expansion into the Republic of Ireland, RTE reports.

Health policy news

Health service welcomes new leader

The HSE has named Anne O'Connor as its next chief executive. She is expected to take over from Bernard Gloster in the spring of 2026. Ms O'Connor, who started as an occupational therapist, has held several senior roles in the organisation. She said she was "very privileged to be appointed to the role at a time of great opportunity and challenge".

'Cataract care can show the way'

Limited hospital capacity, staff shortages, and outdated models of care mean that the Republic of Ireland has 7,500 patients on the cataract surgery list, many of whom have been waiting too long, says The Journal.

Frank Doheny, the chief executive of ophthalmology provider Veonet Ireland, explains why he believes cataract surgery is ideally suited to community-based settings. This vision aligns with Slaintecare's vision for affordable, accessible eye care, he says.