Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is okay. The Taoiseach gave me a thesis on budget submissions. I understand the process. The problem is that some groups have more weight than others. I have been lobbying for profoundly deaf children to get cochlear implants. I have spoken to the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health about it privately on a number of occasions. I have written to the Taoiseach about the matter on numerous occasions and I have raised it in the House. I made a pre-budget submission on the issue. However, we are still no nearer knowing whether the Government will provide a small amount of money for children to avail of a service that they would have as a matter of course if they lived in the North or were British, French or German. The service is denied to children in this State. That has been my experience for the past eight or nine months and the parents have had to deal with it for much longer than that. Last year 21 separate measures that had been sought by the Clearing House Group or its subgroups were contained in the 2012 Finance Bill following the budget . Balance is required. There must be access for citizens, particularly those who need the comfort and protection of the State who need to be helped, as opposed to those who are given access and are able to get their proposals for making a lot of money accepted. That is grand; we are not against that. It is all to the good if it can help to lift and employ people, but not at the cost of ordinary citizens.

The Taoiseach said the next meeting would be in October.

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