Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

Senator O'Toole raised an important issue in regard to hearing impairment, particularly among the young. Given his profession, the Senator will be well aware of the disadvantage at which the young are placed when they have hearing problems. We should acknowledge that hearing deficiency is widespread throughout the community. Often there is a veil of secrecy surrounding a hearing deficiency as if there were some type of stigma involved. We have major debates on various issues from time to time as to why that is the case.

Regarding Senator O'Toole's point, if there is a procedure to diagnose whether a newborn child has a hearing deficiency, particularly in the early days after birth, and if remedial action can be taken, we cannot measure that benefit in cost terms. Senator O'Toole made the point that such a test is not costly. The incidence of hearing deficiency is a serious problem. Young people are entitled to equality of opportunity but they will not have that if they have a hearing impairment. It is no longer acceptable to use archaic methods to establish whether a young person has a hearing deficiency. I would like us to debate this issue. While this might seem to be a relatively mundane issue, many people would be delighted if we debated it. Such a debate might lift the veil of secrecy which surrounds this issue.