Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Acting Chair has said, I acknowledge Senator Craughwell discussing his personal experience. It is something I know from my late dad who had great difficulty in hearing. It puts people on the periphery of conversations and puts them out of social discourse with people. This has significant consequences for their ability to fit in and meet people. It has an impact on people's well-being. It is very important.

There is proposal to establish a working group comprising the relevant stakeholders to assist with developing a national hearing plan. I will report back to the Minister on Senator Craughwell's interest in this and the possibility of him feeding into it, as it were. Healthcare priorities have been identified by the HSE in this regard. The Department will be actively working on it in the coming months.