Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and it is great to get the opportunity to discuss it. The Minister and myself are committed to supporting our national population-based screening programmes. As we all know, screening saves lives and it is important that decisions on changes to our existing screening programmes, such as changes to the age range eligible for screening, are made in line with international best practice.

When a woman turns 50, she receives a notification to attend her BreastCheck appointment and the take-up is very high, which is great to see. Many people who are screened find that they might be challenged with breast cancer. As the Deputy said, the outcomes are good.

As he may know, decisions about population-based screening in Ireland are made on the advice of the NSAC. This independent, expert committee makes recommendations to the Minister and the Department of Health on population screening in Ireland. As he may appreciate, the assessment of the evidence for making changes to screening programmes is a thorough process, done in line with internationally accepted criteria and with scientific rigour. In addition to the scientific and technological information required to make evidence-based decisions, ethical, legal and societal issues arise when planning an enduring population-based screening programme of this nature.

As the Deputy stated, BreastCheck currently invites women aged 50 to 69 for screening. Extending the programme to those up to the age 69 was a programme for Government commitment, which I am pleased to note has been met and is now being implemented. The NSAC's first annual call in 2021 for proposals for new screening programmes or changes to our existing programmes, received more than 50 submissions. This included proposals on expansion of the age range eligibility for breast cancer screening from a number of sources, including from the BreastCheck programme.

The NSAC have asked HIQA to look at the evidence for the expansion of the age range eligibility for breast screening to women aged between 45 and 74 and preliminary scoping work has begun. I agree wholeheartedly that it would be important to extend the range. One person contacted me who had contracted breast cancer at the age of 45. She was lucky in that she was proactive and went about dealing with it.

She made the point that many others have breast cancer and do not realise it.

I think that 45 years is a good age to start and I am glad that the BreastCheck programme has also endorsed this. Under Europe’s beating cancer plan, a proposal for an updated European Council recommendation on cancer screening was adopted by the Commission in September. The final recommendation is expected to be formally approved by the Council of the European Union on 9 December and then published.

The NSAC will consider the recommendation and advise the Minister and the Department of Health on the evidence as it applies to Ireland, including in respect of breast screening. It is important to remind ourselves that screening is for healthy people without symptoms and I advise everyone to take up their invitation for screening when they receive it.

It is important that every woman is breast aware. This means knowing what is normal for them so that if any unusual change occurs, they will recognise it. In light of all this, I trust the public can be assured of the Minister’s and my own ongoing commitment to further expansion of population-based screening in Ireland. It cannot happen soon enough. It is such an important provision.

The Deputy noted that it is 33% under 50 years and 36% over 70 years. Expanding the programme by those extra nine years could have many positive outcomes for women's health.

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