Taoiseach can’t confirm surgery for deaf boy

The Taoiseach said he was unable to say with certainty that a deaf boy will be given life-changing surgery which would allow him some form of hearing.

However, Enda Kenny said there were “positive” developments that would put in place a system for double bilateral cochlear implants in Irish hospitals by 2014.

Mr Kenny said there were about 200 children eligible for the second implant, which currently cannot take place here. He was answering questions in the Dáil about the case of Liam Cunneen-McCormack, 6, who was told he had to go to Britain for the operation — despite a donor offering to pay for it here — because of funding issues between Beaumont Hospital in Dublin and the HSE.