Northern Ireland to reinstate automatic access to free sight tests for most Universal Credit recipients

The development, which is set to take effect in October, will see Northern Ireland reach parity with the rest of the UK

2 min read

Sam Baird, Paula Beattie, Robbie Butler, Andy Allen

RNIB Northern Ireland

22 September 2025

Most Universal Credit recipients in Northern Ireland will be automatically eligible for free sight tests from the end of October.

The development follows legislative change that brings Northern Ireland in line with the other nations of the UK.

Since 2017, Northern Ireland Universal Credit recipients have needed to fill in a 22-page form in order to receive free eye care and dental care.

The legal technicality resulted in frustration among optometrists providing eye care and saw the number of benefit recipients accessing sight tests drop significantly.

The law change will see 82% of Universal Credit recipients eligible for free sight tests and dental care. Those on higher incomes, accounting for 18% of recipients, will need to fill in an HC1 form to access care – in line with the process followed across the other nations of the UK.

RNIB Northern Ireland policy and campaigns manager, Paula Beattie, highlighted that the lack of automatic access to free sight tests had put Universal Credit recipients in Northern Ireland “at a significant disadvantage” – potentially delaying the detection of ocular pathology.

“It also prevented many Universal Credit claimants from being able to take simple, yet vital, corrective measures, such as accessing glasses or contact lenses and potentially adding to already unacceptably long NHS waiting lists in NI,” she said.

Robbie Butler MLA, who chairs the All-Party Group on Visual Impairment, described the law change as “a huge win for fair access to healthcare.”

“This outcome has been years in the making. Credit must go to Sam Baird Optician for his professional input and dogged determination, and to RNIB Northern Ireland and the wider visual impairment sector for their unstinting advocacy,” he said.

“Through the work of the All-Party Group on Visual Impairment that I have the honour to Chair, myself, Andy Allen MLA, and cross-party MLA colleagues have campaigned tirelessly for fair access to treatment. That effort has now paid off,” Butler concluded.