James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I do not want to get into a debate on the sensitivities of the prostate specific antigen blood test, which is not 100% infallible and I accept the Deputy is passionate about this and he is trying to save lives and that is the business of my Department as well. In reality, however, it happens that patients who do not have symptoms are picked up in examinations for all conditions. That does not mean that by providing a hugely expensive screening programme, the sort of results the Deputy wants to see will happen in terms of picking up cases early, not having high false positives and worrying people unnecessarily. There is a raft of criteria that medical experts can present. The best thing I can do is speak to the Deputy directly about the existing medical evidence behind the rationale for this decision. If he still has issues I am happy for him to come back to the House and have a further debate.

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