William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

241. To ask the Minister for Health the steps being taken to expand the delivery of hearing and eye care services in community settings; her plans to increase the role of primary and community care providers in improving access to these services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17263/26]

William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

242. To ask the Minister for Health the assessment that has been made of the barriers faced by older people and other vulnerable groups in accessing hearing care services, including cost, waiting times and geographic availability; the actions planned to address these barriers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17264/26]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 241 and 242 together.

The National Hearing Care Plan Working Group was established in August 2024. The Group is jointly chaired by the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive (HSE). Membership of the Working Group is drawn from relevant stakeholders, including HSE clinicians and management, the Irish Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists (ISHAA), the Irish Academy of Audiology (IAA), and the Department of Social Protection.

The Working Group has been tasked with developing recommendations for a holistic model of hearing care in Ireland. To support this, a structured workstream has been developed, including subgroups focused on progressing priority issues. Significant progress has been made to date. There have been 21 meetings of the Working Group and associated subgroups since formation.

The scope of the work being considered by the Group has expanded beyond initial expectations, which has impacted on the timeline of the delivery of the report. The Group saw this as an opportunity to deliver a more comprehensive plan that considers all aspects of audiology care, thus ensuring the greatest benefit to patients.

A public consultation process is due to commence later this month, with a final National Hearing Care Plan due for the Minister’s consideration in Q2 2026. The public consultation will provide valuable insight into barriers that patients face when trying to access hearing care services.

In the meantime, I have allocated €750,000 for an initiative to support the HSE to utilise external providers to reduce the number of children waiting.

This funding will be used for children over the age of 4 who have been waiting longer than 1 year. Most of these children should be able to be tested by a single audiologist. However, some of them may require a second assessment.

As of December 2025, 601 children over 4 years of age were removed from the Audiology Paediatric Waiting List. The €750,000 that was allocated in Budget 2025 is now recurring and the HSE have advised that over 3,500 children will be seen in 2026.

The HSE provides optical services free of charge to pre-school children and national school children referred from child health service and school health service examinations who are discovered to have sight problems. These children are referred to the appropriate service for treatment. In such circumstances, these services will continue to be provided until the child has reached the age of 16.

The Community Ophthalmic Services Scheme (COSS) is a national fee-per-item scheme which was introduced in 1979. Under the COSS, medical card holders aged over 16 years can be seen by ophthalmologists, community ophthalmic physicians, optometrists or dispensing opticians.

The HSE Primary Care Eye Services Review Group Report, published in 2017, estimated that 60% of existing outpatient activity could be moved to primary care thus enabling hospital services to focus on patients who require more specialist diagnostics or treatments.

The National Clinical Programme for Ophthalmology, published in 2017, developed a model of care detailing how the realignment of eye services from an acute hospital setting to the community would be undertaken.

The HSE has been developing multidisciplinary Integrated Eye Care Teams in accordance with this model of care. These teams facilitate assessment, diagnoses, management and treatment, and, in some cases, pre-op/post-op care, enabling most patients to be seen in their own locality. Where necessary, patients can be referred onwards to acute Ophthalmology services to receive the necessary specialist input.

Transferring the routine care of children aged 8+ years to the care of local private optometrists remains a priority. Work is also ongoing to explore the best way to expand the scope of practice of optometrists so that they can do more in their daily practice.

The Programme for Government: Securing Ireland’s Future contains a commitment to review the National Clinical Programme for Ophthalmology to ensure more eye services are provided in the community. Engagement with relevant stakeholders regarding this is ongoing.