Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:notes that:

-- international best practice in treating children who are profoundly deaf is for the provision of bilateral cochlear implants;

-- children in this State who are profoundly deaf are only provided with one implant;

-- the absence of a second implant creates problems for these children in differentiating speech in noisy environments, as locating the direction of a sound makes the stress of trying to hear exhausting; and

-- it is a race against time as the auditory nerves to which the implants are connected become more redundant every day and will eventually die if they are not being used; unless implants are connected in the early years (that is by the age of 7 or 8) it is accepted that the operation will be ineffective;

further notes:

-- the provision of cochlear implants for children is an issue of fundamental rights;

-- there are around 200 children throughout the State who may be able to avail of this service;

-- the estimated cost to the State is approximately €12.8 million per annum; and

-- the sterling work being carried out by the specialist cochlear implants unit in Beaumont Hospital;

commends the parents of the children who through their Happy New Ear campaign have raised awareness of this issue; and

calls on the Government to ensure that:

-- the proposed business plan by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Beaumont Hospital to introduce a bilateral cochlear implant programme is contained in Budget 2014 and is part of the 2014 HSE estimates process; and

-- children who are profoundly deaf receive the most effective care possible and that international best practice is applied.

I wish to share time with Deputies Jonathan O'Brien, Dessie Ellis and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.

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