1. How often should I have eye examination?

• It is recommended adults have their eye sight and eye health checked every two years. Children every year. Some people need more frequent eye tests such as people with diabetes, Glaucoma suspect, oncoming cataracts. Our Optometrists will advise you if you require more frequent eye tests.

2. I am not having any sight problems so why should I get a check?

• During your eye examination our Optometrists does more than just check your eye sight and glasses prescription. We will check your eyes for eye disease. Optometrists can often be the first health care professionals to detect general health diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes, brain tumour, thyroid, stroke.

3. Do I have to pay for an eye examination?

• Most people are now eligible for a free eye exam and free glasses through RSI or medical card every 2 years.

If you are employed, self-employed or retired you may have enough RSI contributions to avail of this benefit. All we need is your RSI number and date of birth and we will be able to check your PRSI within minutes.

Our Eye examinations are €50 for adults. €40 for secondary/ 3rd level students.

If you have a medical card you should apply through your local Health Board first. Please call us and we will post the form for you. When the form arrives authorised back to your house you can book an appointment with us..

4. Do you use eyedrops during your eye examinations?

• Normally we do not need to use drops during your eye examination as we have excellent equipment that can check your eye health without eye drops. Sometimes we may have to dilate your pupils to get a wider view of your peripheral retina during the health checks for diabetic patients or if you have some visual symptoms like floaters.

Children have very active and strong eye muscles and often during their first eye examination we use eye drops to relax their muscles in order to ensure we prescribe the correct glasses prescription.

5. Should I wear my glasses or contact lenses to my eye examination?

• We ask that you bring your glasses with you in order for us to compare any visual differences and for us to do any repairs for them. If you are having a contact lens appointment, we ask that you wear your contact lenses into the appointment and then bring your contact lens case and glasses with you.

6. Should I wear make up to the appointment?

• There is no problem wearing eye make-up during your routine eye examination. Before a contact lens teach or dry eye treatment, we may ask you to remove it.

7. How long is an eye examination?

• An eye examination normally takes 20-30 minutes. The time required to pick new glasses depends on each person and their visual requirements. We suggest that you give yourself 30-40 minutes for this selection.

8. Where should I park?

• We have free customer parking in our car park which is located at the back of Dunnes car park, Irishtown.

9. What age should a child have his/her first Eye Examination?

• We test children as young as 2-years-old. We recommend that children have an eye examination as soon as they are co-operative, but definitely before starting playschool. Good vision is very important for general child development. Children’s vision is fully developed by age 8, therefore the earlier we can treat vision problems the better.

It is common for children to have no visual symptoms but one good eye can mask the other weaker eye. If left untreated this can cause a permanently weak eye and some lead to some learning difficulties. It is also important that children are checked for colour defects prior to starting school as a lot of school learning is through colours - different learning approaches may be more beneficial.

To see how we conduct children’s eye exams click here.

10. What age can children start wearing contact lenses?

• This depends on the maturity of each child. Some children as young as 7 can wear contact lenses.We have some children starting wearing contact lenses at age 7 for myopia management.

11. How long will it take to make my glasses?

• For many straight forward prescriptions glasses can be made up within an hour if required. Other specialised lenses may have to be ordered. Single vision lenses take 5-7 days while varifocals take 5 -8 days.

12. Can you post my glasses or contact lenses to me?

• Yes, we can post your glasses to you and can organise for your contact lenses to be sent directly to your home.

13. Do you repair glasses?

• Yes. Most repairs can be done in store but sometimes we may have to order parts for your frame so repair time may be some days.