Interview: Peter McGrath, Chair of the Optical Registration Board, Ireland

Optician How did you become interested in optical regulation?

Peter McGrath I studied at the University of Manchester and qualified as an optometrist over 30 years ago, I then worked in various practices throughout the UK before heading to Australia and taking on an optometrist role in a busy suburban practice in Melbourne. I returned to Ireland in the early 1990s to get involved in the first Specsavers store in Ireland. I’m now a store partner in four busy optical and hearing practices in Dublin.

There have been massive changes in the optical profession since I graduated. As a practitioner and practice owner, the role of regulation in the new world became increasingly important to me and it is vital that we get it right to enable the optical sector to flourish and to grow to meet the needs of a changing population.