The Government has been called on to introduce mandatory eye-tests every ten years for all motorists over the age of 35.
The call came from the Waterford-based Fight For Sight charity, which claims that vision impairment can represent as high a threat to safety as drinking and driving.
Eye tests are not mandatory for drivers between the issuing of a provisional driver's licence and the age of 70.
The call was made to coincide with the launch of a major national awareness campaign on the prevention of eye injury and loss of sight, entitled "A Fight for Sight - A Lot To Loose", at a conference in Dublin today.
The 'Fight for Sight' campaign, along with the National Irish Safety Organisation and the Health and Safety Authority, want more to be done to highlight the danger of people being blinded by accidents at home and at work.
"A workplace accident is a cost to the State, to the individual employer and most obviously to the injured employee. There is a clear link between effective safety management and a reduction in workplace accidents and fatalities," the Minister for Trade and Commerce, Mr Ahern, told the conference.
"There are clear benefits for those companies willing to make an investment in safety, such as employee morale, lower employee turnover rates, lower insurance premia," he said.