Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise a very important issue with the Minister of State, which is the absence of any audiology service in the midlands. In Laois-Offaly alone,1,383 people are waiting for hearing tests and treatment, of whom 315 have been waiting for more than a year. More concerning is the fact that 255 people have been waiting for more than two years, of whom 185 are children. Some children have been waiting for up to 156 weeks, three years, for an appointment. There has been no paediatric audiologist in Laois-Offaly since March 2019. Two posts are vacant. The only service is provided by an occasional visiting audiologist from the Dublin region, which itself is under pressure. The situation in Longford-Westmeath is not much better, as 273 people have been waiting for more than a year to be seen, of whom 132 have been waiting for more than two years. The service simply is not there. It is chronically under-resourced and is in crisis. It gives me no pleasure to stand up here and say this, which is why I looked for this special debate.

Everyone knows the importance of timely examination and appropriate interventions, such as hearing aids. It is important for everybody for quality for life but it is very important for children. Their education and development can be affected by not being able to follow what is happening at school, at home, in the playground or in the street around them. There are children in Laois-Offaly who have been waiting for up to three years for appointments while some children in Longford-Westmeath have been waiting for up to two years and six months. It is totally unacceptable that anyone must wait that length of time for an appointment. We need to realise that a quality of life issue arises in this regard and that there are issues in respect of child development and people's ability to function.

The Minister of State mentioned earlier that there is no embargo. There is a freeze on recruitment, so let us call it a freeze. We will not argue over words. If the Minister of State does not want to call it an embargo, we will call it a freeze. There is a freeze on recruitment imposed by the Government that is preventing HSE management from filling these posts, which have already been granted. I am asking the Government to lift the freeze on recruitment to allow audiology services in Laois-Offaly and the midlands to function. We must make an effort to get this service back on track. There are significant waiting lists there. I have raised this issue with the Minister.

Families in my constituency are coming to me because they cannot get audiology services. In addition, however, dental services for children do not exist in my constituency. My grandchild will be 14 in a few months' time. She has not yet been seen by a school dentist. There is no service in Laois-Offaly. If she lived over the border in County Carlow, she would have been seen four or five years ago. I was seen by a school dentist many moons ago in second or third class, along with the other children in the school at the time. Child psychology services are difficult to access, as are speech and language therapists. I could go on. We are putting loads of money into it and, yes, Sinn Féin argues for that. I know the Minister of State backs that and the taxpayer is willing to do that but the services are not there on the ground. I meet HSE management and it tells me about what it is doing internally and who is talking to who but no effort is being made to build services at the front line. That is the problem.

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