Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 March 2026
24. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Health the projected timeline for the utilisation of the €750,000 allocated to external providers to address paediatric long waiters on the community audiology waiting list; the criteria for selecting children to be seen under this initiative; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17542/26]
View answerThe Health Service Executive (HSE) provides free hearing tests and hearing aids, if needed, to children under the age of 18. The demand for these services continues to increase.
I acknowledge that the Audiology Paediatric Waiting List is too long. 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.
For children younger than 4 years of age, suitable audiology booths must meet the desired noise standard in ISO 82513 for performing diagnostic assessments. I understand that these are not readily available through private capacity. As a result, the HSE will continue to assess these children.
Each Region is required to quality assure the individual premises of external providers prior to placing patients. A key issue is local capacity within the external providers to deliver the numbers of appointments required.
As Regions remove patients they will target the next longest waiters within their allocated budget envelope.
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.
