Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Colm Burke for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. The Minister is committed to supporting our national population-based screening programmes. As we all know, screening saves lives and it is important that decisions on the introduction of new screening programmes are made in line with international best practices. As the Deputy may know, decisions about the introduction of new population-based screening programmes in Ireland are made on the advice of the National Screening Advisory Committee. This independent expert committee makes recommendations to the Minister and the Department on population screening in Ireland. As may be appreciated, the assessment of the evidence for making changes to screening programmes is a thorough process done in line with international accepted criteria and with scientific rigour. In addition to the scientific and technological information required to make evidence-based decisions, there are ethical, legal and societal issues which arise when planning enduring population-based programmes of this nature.

The NSAC works closely with the HSE, HIQA, clinicians and patient advocates in its approach to the consideration of expansion of population-based screening in Ireland. Its first annual call in 2021 for proposals for new screening programmes or changes to our existing programmes received a significant response. As the Deputy correctly stated, a total of 53 submissions were received, including on lung cancer and prostate cancer.

Submissions were received from various sources, including members of the public and patient advocates, and these underwent consideration by the committee at its scheduled meeting during 2022. The NSAC intends to publish its full work programme shortly.

As the Deputy may be aware, under Europe's Beating Cancer Plan, a proposal for an updated Council recommendation was adopted by the Commission in September 2022. The final recommendation is expected to be formally approved by the Council of the European Union in December 2022 and published thereafter. The NSAC will consider the recommendation and advise the Minister and the Department of Health on the evidence as it applies to Ireland.

As the Deputy noted, our current programmes have led to the early detection of cancers. The latest cancer trends report, published recently by the National Cancer Registry Ireland, focuses on cancers that are currently screened for. It reports on the incidence, mortality, stage and survival of patients diagnosed with female breast cancer, cervical cancer and colorectal cancer. The report shows the positive impacts of our three cancer screening programmes, namely, BowelScreen, BreastCheck and CervicalCheck, noting that they are effective, that they are detecting cancers earlier and that they are saving lives. The report shows that cancer cases detected through screening were, on average, found at a substantially earlier stage than other cases diagnosed at the same ages. More important, survival has improved for all three cancers, with the greatest improvements seen in the age groups targeted by the national screening programmes.

In light of all this, I trust the public can be assured of the ongoing commitment of both the Minister and me to the further expansion of population-based screening in Ireland, along with the awareness campaigns the Deputy highlighted.

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