There was a time when shopping was a task which required visits to specific outlets for specific items. Books belonged only in bookshops. You went to a florists for flowers. Nowadays, wander around a supermarket or a filling station, and it seems like there is something of everything available there. However, there is one thing you still won't find in supermarkets in this State: spectacles.
Known within the trade as "ready readers" because they are intended solely for reading or close work, these spectacles are sold in many countries across Europe, and are also available in Northern Ireland. You can pick them up in petrol stations, supermarkets and libraries. They retail at an average of £10. Opticians are quite happy about them, pointing out that they cannot do your eyes any harm, as they are specifically for shortrange use only.
So why can't you buy these glasses here? Because it is against the law. Among the issues covered in the Optometrists Act of 1956 is the question of who may sell glasses. Under the Act, only registered opticians or medical practitioners can sell them.
Robert van Harpen, a Dutch national based in Wexford, is a distributor for ReadySpex. He supplies reading glasses all over Europe and is puzzled as to why he cannot do the same in the Republic. "I've been approached by two major supermarket chains who are interested in selling them in their outlets, but the regulations won't allow it. It doesn't make sense to me." ReadySpex retail from £4.99 to £9.99.
Billy Walsh is the registrar of the Opticians Board. There are currently more than 350 registered optometrists in the Republic. He is politely frustrated by the issue. "Personally, I have no problem with these glasses being made available. But the law is the law and we have to enforce it, which has been very costly for us in the past." Walsh is referring to a High Court case in 1990, taken by the board against four high-street retailers who were selling reading glasses.
Pat Brady is an optician based in Donegal and a member of the Opticians Board. "These glasses are basically what we'd term convenience glasses, since you don't need a prescription to buy them. But they're intended for people who have similar vision in each eye. They're not a substitute for the loss of focusing power. Some people may have different levels of sight in each eye, and that is when you need prescription glasses. But these ready readers are a good back-up option."
Brady sells them at his practice for £12, which is almost as cheap as you'd get them across the supermarket counter in other European countries. "Being in Donegal, I keep a stock specifically for tourists who have lost their glasses."
Brady would be perfectly happy to see reading glasses widely available. "We live in a consumer-based market. Why not facilitate people? There's no health risk involved. The only advantage I would have over a layman selling these glasses is being able to offer advice, but even with that most people do choose the right reading glasses. They just keep trying them on until they get a pair that suits them."
To Brady, the real issue is not whether or not retail outlets should be allowed to sell reading glasses, but how little has changed within optometry since 1956. "That Act was passed over 40 years ago," he points out. "The Opticians Board has always been looking for amendments to the Act. We have petitioned the Department of Health several times, but eye care is understandably low down the agenda when they've had to focus on hepatitis and other problems. But we're hoping things will change. It's certainly time for it."
