Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. As he knows, the four national screening programmes - BreastCheck, CervicalCheck, BowelScreen and Diabetic RetinaScreen - were paused in March in line with public health advice. Such programmes were paused in many countries around the world, including Northern Ireland on this island, as well. This was done to protect patients and staff. It is important to say people who were in the system at the time of the pause have continued to be treated. With BreastCheck, for example, women who have been screened continue to have their assessments completed and treatment plans mapped and surgeries continue to be scheduled. For CervicalCheck, colposcopy assessments and follow-up treatments continue for women who were screened before the pause.

I am glad to be able to inform the House that the four screening programmes are finalising plans to restart their work. I am satisfied that this week we have more information than we had last week and we are really getting to a point where the screening programmes can say that by the end of this month, restart dates for each of the four programmes will be announced, and also that screening is expected to have begun with a phased reintroduction by the end of the summer.

I can also share with the House that the National Screening Service has said to me, probably for the reasons outlined by the Deputy, that CervicalCheck and the Diabetic RetinaScreen are expected to restart first and they will be followed by BreastCheck and BowelScreen respectively. There is much work going on to modify screening units and this must be completed before the restart, along with the final analysis on the effects of the Covid-19 measures and the pace and throughput of the screening cohort. Screening invitations will be issued on a phased basis according to clinical priority.

Like the Deputy, I will not be satisfied until these programmes are back up and running but I am satisfied that there is an incredible amount of work being done by very dedicated clinicians. We are now seeing engagement with patient advocacy groups that we may not have seen a couple of weeks back and it is important to keep that information flow going.

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