Sensory augmentationPolicy01 sources

Ireland opens a review of adult cochlear implant funding

Two behind-the-ear cochlear implant sound processors, one brown and one black, each trailing a thin cable to a round magnetic transmitter coil, laid out on a plain cream background.

MikeCore9918, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)CC BY-SA

Ireland’s Health Information and Quality Authority commenced a health technology assessment on Tuesday 1 September 2026, at the request of the Health Service Executive, into whether adult cochlear implant funding should be widened. Two specific expansions are on the table: implants for adults with single-sided deafness, and a second implant for adults who already have one and have bilateral severe-to-profound hearing loss.

The current rule is the reason this matters. Funding covers a single implant for adults with bilateral severe-to-profound hearing loss, and nothing at all for adults with single-sided deafness. Children with bilateral severe-to-profound loss are eligible for two implants, and some children with single-sided deafness caused by particular conditions are covered. An adult and a child with the same audiogram are therefore entitled to different hardware.

Conor Teljeur, HIQA’s Chief Scientist, confirmed the existing limits. The assessment will weigh treatment options for hearing loss, the clinical efficacy, effectiveness and safety of implants, the cost and budget implications of expanding funding, and the ethical and organisational consequences, consulting patients and clinicians along the way. Final advice goes to the Minister for Health in 2027.

Sources

  1. [1]HIQA commences an assessment of cochlear implants for adultsHealth Information and Quality Authority··Press release