Cochlear implants campaigners meeting Junior Health Minister

» Mark Moloney

Around 300 children in need of bilateral cochlear implants

PARENTS campaigning for funding for bilateral cochlear implants to give their deaf children a chance to hear have met with a cross-party Oireachtas group and Junior Health Minister Kathleen Lynch.

They have a petition in support of their Happy New Ear (HNE) campaign which has been signed by more than 3,200 people.

Speaking outside Leinster House on Wednesday, HNE spokesperson Lorraine Murphy reiterated the group's call for a meeting with Health Minister James Reilly. Reilly has claims he is too busy to meet the parents.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, who has raised the issue previously during Leader's Questions in the Dáil, has outlined his party's continued support for the campaign.

Around 300 children in the 26 Counties are in need of bilateral cochlear implants but current funding levels mean the state will only pay to for a single implant in one side. A simple operation that comes as standard in many other European states – and also in the North of Ireland – could help change the lives of these children but parents in the South who want their children to hear properly have to fork out around €35,000.

• In an interview last month, campaigner Danielle Ryan told An Phoblacht how bilateral cochlear implants could change her daughter's life.