Mr. Shay Kearns:

Ultimately, the options chosen will be based on cost. One of the options is to travel to the UK. If it comes down to time - for example, if my child is five and I am told it will be five years before he gets his implant - there is no question that I will travel in order to get it sooner. However, this is not ideal. All of us here would say we would prefer to have it done in Ireland. Having one ear treated in Ireland and another treated in another jurisdiction raises issues. Tuning is one of the major issues, particularly if one implant centre is responsible for one implant and another responsible for the second. There is also an issue with parents having to travel to both centres, particularly considering the number of days they need to do so. That is an enormous task but it has been done. Parents have done this privately but it is not ideal.