Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas le gach Teachta a ghlac páirt sa díospóireacht tábhachtach seo. Gabhaim buíochas ach go háirithe leis na tuismitheoirí atá linn inniú agus molaim iad as an feachtas atá ar siúl acu agus tá súil agam go neireoidh leis go luath.

I thank all the Deputies who have taken part in this debate. I believe this is an issue on which there is agreement. The outstanding matter is whether there is the political will to do it now. We must all come together on that and ensure the decision is made to do it now. I especially acknowledge and thank the Happy New Ear campaign and the parents of children requiring bilateral cochlear implants who have joined us in the Visitors' Gallery for this debate. I wish they had not been obliged to be here again today and that we did not have to address again this very important issue.

We hope this debate and sincere appeal to the Government will mark a very significant step towards the early and full achievement of these families' goal, which is the gift of hearing for their children and for countless other children who will require bilateral cochlear implants in Ireland in the future. Many complex and complicated issues come before the Dáil each week, none more so than the budget that was announced on Tuesday. However, this is a very straightforward and simple issue. It is not complicated or complex. There are no conflicting arguments about the benefits of bilateral cochlear implants, and the Minister has acknowledged that. Children need this operation and they need it now. This is the emphasis of my closing appeal to the Minister. Unquestionably, this decision must be taken now.

I regret that the Minister for Health did not accept the motion but chose to amend it. I will deal now with that amendment. The first part restates the current position regarding audiology and quite rightly commends the work being done in Beaumont Hospital on cochlear implants for both children and adults. The last part of the Minister’s amendment is apparently irrelevant as it talks about the new national children’s hospital and the national clinical programme in paediatrics and neonatology. I say "apparently irrelevant" on purpose, because I have a serious concern at the presence of those points in the amendment, points which the Minister repeated in his short contribution a few moments ago.

I hope it is not being suggested by him in a subtextual way that the provision of bilateral cochlear implants for children might have to await the completion of the new national children's hospital, as that would be totally unacceptable. The substance of his amendment recognises that the report of the national audiology review group recommended bilateral implants. It notes that initial estimates of the additional resources required are being examined with regard to the model of care required and the costings. That, unfortunately, is as far as the Minister goes in his amendment. It is most regrettable that it does not fully recognise the vital importance of bilateral cochlear implants. He should at least have recognised the worry, concern and anguish of parents who see that the clock is ticking and that if these operations are not made available as soon as possible, it may be too late for their children to benefit from them.

I want to summarise the case we have made and put it to the Minister and the Government. Thanks to the Happy New Ear campaign, it is now widely known that children in the State who receive cochlear implants receive one, rather than two, implants. The provision of two implants is accepted as best practice internationally. The case is best made by the parents of these children and I want to read the testimony from a parent. The child concerned is now slightly older than she was when the parent wrote to me:

Our beautiful daughter Taylor Beth is now two and half years old. She has the biggest green eyes you have ever seen and can tell you in a blink exactly what she wants! It's just as well she can do this as Taylor can't speak yet. She was born profoundly deaf and due to a late diagnosis, 19 months had passed without her hearing a sound. She began using sign language shortly after her diagnosis and to date has just short of 200 signs. Even though she hasn't found her voice yet, this is one little lady who can still put you in your place!

Thankfully Taylor was given the gift of hearing in November 2012 and since then has come on leaps and bounds. In these two short months she has started babbling like any hearing baby would start off and has finally turned to her name!! It truly is a miracle. There is a downside however...

Our daughter is exhausted in the evenings as her little brain has had to work so hard to process all the sound coming in through just one ear. With the aid of a second implant this wouldn't be the case. Why should our children miss out on their childhood because they are too exhausted to go and play after school? Or not know in which direction that phone is ringing - all because there isn't enough funding. These are simple little things to us but to her and the other children this could be life changing.

Please share our story and help us in the fight to gain bilateral implants for our little ones. We were all given two ears to hear - give these children what is rightfully theirs.

None of us could put it more profoundly and with more certainty than a parent who is reaching out to us to offer the essential help to the child. It has been estimated that the cost of a single implant is between €18,000 and €20,000. The estimated annual cost of putting this programme in place for all the children who need it is €12.8 million. Approximately 200 children would benefit from the immediate introduction of a bilateral cochlear implant programme. The core problem is that, as the child grows, the nerves to which the implant should be connected die if they are not being used and the hope of a further implant is lost. However, this anguish for parents and children can be avoided. This is an issue that can be resolved. There is a solution which is best practice in other states. The amount of money involved is relatively small, even in these straitened times. All that is required is the political will, with which the money can be found.

At a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children this morning I asked the Minister to provide for bilateral cochlear implants in the 2014 HSE national service plan. He said he had made it one of his priorities, just as he said so again here, but he went on to cite scarce resources. The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, did the same during this debate. The Minister makes the same delaying excuses, but I must call it as I see it. His are delaying excuses and unacceptable, as he knows.

In a letter to Deputy Gerry Adams in July 2013 the Minister sounded a much more positive note and stated the proposal for the development of a bilateral cochlear implant programme at Beaumont Hospital would be submitted as part of the HSE Estimates process. I regret to note that the tone from him and the Minister of State today was less positive than in his letter in July. Trying to read between the lines of the speeches made today, I sincerely hope it is not the case that this plan was submitted as part of the pre-budget Estimates process but rejected at that stage. Is this a battle the Minister fought but which has since been put back? Even if that is the case, he can succeed if he has the political will. He will have the applause and acclaim of the House if he delivers on this simple and straightforward issue. We will not hesitate to properly commend him in full. Governments have to be called to account. Political pressure has to be applied to ensure they do the right thing. I take with a pinch of salt the statement of the Minister of State that the motion would have been better timed after the HSE service plan is published. On the contrary, that would be too late.

The Minister should see the motion and these contributions as a collective endorsement of his efforts not to seek to deliver but to deliver. We will not rest on anything other than success in delivering the programme in the national service plan for 2014 in order that the children children have their rights and their parents can look forward to their children having the opportunity to fulfil their full potential as young people facing into later life. The Minister must go bolder from this Chamber, knowing that we are all behind him in this matter.

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