24 March 2026

Fees and five nations: FODO Ireland work in 2026

FODO Ireland's policy leads report on the work they have been doing to champion the interests of members and help shape the future of eye care. 

David Hewlett, director of policy and strategy, on fees: 

"As members will know, we welcomed the long overdue increase in PRSI fees in January, which is something we have been pressing ministers on for many years now, as have colleagues in Optometry Ireland.  

We are still waiting to hear whether ministers have made final decisions on the medical card fees. We have remained in close contact with Optometry Ireland and their lawyers throughout, continuing to support their work while ensuring we have not done anything that would undermine the case they have taken against ministers.  

FODO Ireland supports members but does not tell members what to do. Each practice must make its own decisions about business matters, and our task is to provide the most transparent information we can. To this end, we have held two seminars for members where our lawyers at DAC Beachcroft unpacked the issues as they had understood them from Optometry Ireland lawyers, for members to make up their own minds about whether to participate in the action. 

We continue to press ministers for clarity on the medical card fees and look forward to working with Optometry Ireland colleagues to secure appropriate fee increases for the future. We hope that by working together we will never again find ourselves so left behind in fee restoration, as we have for so many years." 

Daro Bjayou, policy officer, on the Five Nations meeting:

"Our attendance at the Five Nations meeting representing FODO Ireland alongside Optometry Ireland is one of the highlights of the year. This year's event was funded and organised by Optometry Scotland and held in Edinburgh on 28-29 January. The event provided an excellent platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing among optometry professionals across the nations. 

It was great to hear about developments and initiatives taking place in other countries, and to catch up with our negotiating colleagues from the four UK nations. The sense of shared purpose and priorities was evident throughout.  

One of the themes for discussion was the UK Government's review of vision standards for driving. We, together with our colleagues from Optometry Ireland, were able to contribute valuable perspectives from Ireland to help shape thinking on this important issue.  

It's always pleasing to see how much unites us across optometry and optics within Ireland and across the UK. Naturally, concerns around fees remains high on all our agendas, but there are many other issues on which we are committed to working together to advance primary eye care in Ireland. We look forward to building on the momentum from Edinburgh and continuing to drive positive change for the benefit of patients and the profession."