Parents of approximately 150,000 fifth-and sixth-class primary school children will now have to seek a private appointment to have their children’s eyes tested after the HSE confirmed that the free eye examination carried out at school’s across the country will no longer be available.
The cancellation comes into effect after the HSE informed schools nationwide that the service is being discontinued with immediate effect due to lack of evidence of its effectiveness.
The decision which has been dubbed as a cost cutting measure was made after a recent report found that the examinations were not definitive and they did not necessarily serve a purpose.
The news of the cancellation has been met with a stern response from the Association of Optometrists, who accepted the HSE’s report questioning its effectiveness, but who have in turn questioned the HSE for their failure to reform the programme or provide a new alternative scheme.
The AOI say the rash decision will have a decremental effect on an already overcrowded system due to the fact there are waiting lists of up to five years for non-urgent cases and six months for urgent cases.