The waiting-list for cataract operations at Dublin's Eye and Ear Hospital will be reduced by one-sixth through a unique initiative between the hospital and the Dublin Lions' Club.
The club is funding the accommodation of 100 patients in the Mount Herbert Hotel on Lansdowne Road over a five-day period so operations can go ahead despite the shortage of beds.
The patients are ferried from the hotel to the hospital for the three-hour operation and back to the hotel to rest before travelling home the following day.
Some 11 surgeons are working on the "cataract blitz", which will finish tomorrow.
