Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While I am happy to be here and welcome the families of deaf children to the House today, I do not know why we are still here dealing with this, because it is an issue that should have been sorted out years ago. I confess, to my shame, that it was only when I attended a briefing hosted by Deputy Adams here in July that I got an insight into cochlear implantation and the case being made for children to be given bilateral implants. I did not realise that children were refused a double implant and were only given one.

The briefing was given by Dr. Laura Viani, who is the surgeon with the cochlear implant programme in Beaumont Hospital. She is the person who performs the operation that gives hearing to the children concerned. One could see the esteem in which she is held, and the gratitude expressed for the treatment received by the children was apparent from the fact that many of the parents of children in need of bilateral cochlear implants also attended the briefing. These are the parents pressing the Government to introduce a programme to ensure their children receive bilateral implants. This is considered to be a Sinn Féin Private Members' motion, but it is not; it is that of the parents and families. I trust the Minister will listen to the debate and, more importantly, pay heed to the genuine case being made in support of bilateral cochlear implants for the 200 children concerned. It is not a number that would sway a marginal constituency. To date, the Minister has indicated that he supports the creation of such a programme at Beaumont Hospital, as has the HSE, but he continues to point to resource constraints. Yesterday, when I spoke briefly on the budget, I stated that this was unacceptable when it comes to the health needs of the most vulnerable in society.

One of the most striking points made by Dr. Viani was about the need to perform the procedure when the children are young enough to take advantage of it. She pointed out that if it was not performed before the child had reached the age of eight the operation would not work. After this age, children who have lived all their lives in silence will never learn how to speak. We do not have the luxury of time. One can state with regard to most issues that we will examine them next year, and that is fine, but we do not have the luxury of time on this. If it is deferred for a year children will not be able to hear or speak.

Dr. Viani also stressed the need for two implants rather than one, and compared the provision of single implants to providing glasses with only one lens. With regard to funding, she claimed that because of the high costs associated with a lifetime of support to a person who cannot hear, a cost-benefit analysis would fall in favour of providing double implants. The medical evidence in support of bilateral cochlear implants is clear. An expert in the area, Dr. Litovsky, wrote a paper which provided evidence not only of benefits in the form of enhanced hearing, particularly in noisy environments, but also social and personal developmental benefits to the individuals who have had this treatment. Dr. Viani also referred to the greatly enhanced language learning capacity of people who have been provided with bilateral rather than individual implants. She even claims that understanding what is being said and memory retention are enhanced because less effort must go into actually taking in what is being said, as opposed to comprehending and processing what is being said.

On a human level, the most significant evidence is the fact the vast majority of bilateral implant users report substantial improvements in the quality of their everyday life. They may sound like small things to us, but they include being able to hold a proper conversation; taking part in work; being able to hear what is happening at meetings; being able to distinguish separate conversations in noisy locations, such as the Dáil often is; and being better and more safely able to drive. There is a compelling case in favour of providing the children in need of this procedure with the means to ensure they have a proper quality of life, and money ought not be an issue.

Yesterday when speaking on the budget I stated that I recognised that most people in political parties were decent and honourable and had come into politics for all the right reasons - to help those whom we represent. There really is only one honourable thing the Government can do with this motion. There is only one decent thing Government backbenchers can do with the motion. I do not care who claims the credit for it. Give the credit to the parents of the children who need the procedure and do not give the credit to Sinn Féin, but do the right thing. We can immeasurably improve the quality of life of deaf children and their families if we immediately authorise the fitting of bilateral implants instead of the current mean-spirited and uncaring practice of fitting one. I ask Deputies to imagine it were their child or grandchild. Would they consider it decent that he or she should go from hearing to deafness because of the failure of a single implant? What a prospect. None of us would want it for our children or grandchildren. Would we consider it decent that our children or grandchildren could not listen to and enjoy beautiful music? We would not. I ask all Deputies to do the right thing. If we cannot and will not do the right thing now, we have lost more than economic sovereignty; we have lost our soul, our compassion and our decency.

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