Ireland has a very high level of unaddressed hearing loss. Almost one in ten of the adult population has significant hearing loss and needs audiology intervention. In 2021, the World Health Organization recommended that national governments in each country establish a national hearing plan for their populations and demonstrated in its report that this would represent excellent value for money. Does the Government intend to accept that recommendation and put a plan in place for the audiology service which is cohesive, efficient and caring, and which would save the health service an awful lot of money in years to come? What steps does the Government intend to take to reduce the waiting list for audiology services, which at present stands at 20,000, half children and half adults?

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The Minister for Health is alongside me. He also heard the Deputy and would be responsive to the idea and to the recommendation of the national hearing plan. I will ask the Minister to pursue that. There have been many initiatives across the broad spectrum of health services but audiology services need attention, particularly at child level, where early intervention can be key to the child's developmental potential. Substantial funding has been allocated for reducing waiting lists. Perhaps a useful discussion could take place as to the best means of deploying that funding in respect of audiology to get the list down as quickly as possible, utilising all resources that could potentially be available.