Catherine Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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81. To ask the Minister for Health if there are any plans to introduce lung cancer screening; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64099/25]

Catherine Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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November is lung cancer awareness month. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in Ireland yet unlike for breast, bowel and cervical cancers, there is no national screening programme in place. The Marie Keating Foundation recently launched the Breathless Collection campaign to highlight key symptoms of lung cancer, including shortness of breath, chest tightness, shoulder pain and a persistent cough. It is a simple message: symptoms cannot be ignored. We also now have the benefit of evidence from the lung health check pilot delivered in partnership with Beaumont Hospital, the RCSI and the ICS using a mobile low-dose CT model that has shown real promise in detecting lung cancer at its very earliest stage. My question today is this: when does the Department intend to progress this programme to a full national lung cancer screening programme?

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I am committed to supporting Ireland's population screening programmes which are valuable part of our health service. The programme for Government commits to evaluate the current lung cancer screening pilot in line with the WHO criteria and to develop recommendations for a way forward. The pilot, which was led by researchers in Beaumont and the RCSI with support from the EU, the Irish Cancer Society and my Department, is under way. It has issued a call for proposals to advance research in this area focusing on outstanding uncertainties.

I have had several meetings with Gillian Ryan who is a leading lung cancer advocate and a leading advocate for a mobile screening service. I have met her in Cork and have hosted her and her daughter here in Leinster House. I met her again last week to unveil Ireland's first White Ribbon for Lung Cancer campaign. I know the Deputy was involved in that and did the breathlessness piece.

Lung cancer is a very serious condition, particularly for those who are not identified as being at high risk. For example, a number of non-smokers are getting lung cancer and they would not necessarily see themselves as being high risk. They deserve to have the opportunity to have themselves tested. I particularly favour the mobile unit but I recognise that we have a screening programme and screening advisory programme that have worked well for us. This is under broader consideration. We need to do a complex set of calculations to get a careful balance to deliver population benefit. I am told lung cancer is particularly challenging due to the very significant budget impact. There are difficulties with risk stratification and high levels of incidental findings that are not necessarily lung cancer that cause their own problems as well. As I am learning, there is a particular complexity to lung cancer screening that was not apparent to me on the first go. Nevertheless, we are continuing to try to assess what may be done through established evidence-driven protocols, as always. I very clearly hear the Deputy and agree with her that there is a particular need to look at this more closely.

Catherine Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is good to hear that the Minister is well disposed to putting more research into it and trying to assess whether it is an appropriate screening programme. We know from international evidence, including from the UK, the US and across the EU, that low-dose screening reduces mortality, particularly among high-risk groups such as long-term smokers and those with an extended smoking history. Having said that, I also know that many people who are not traditionally in this high-risk group are presenting with lung cancer and sometimes at quite a late stage. From ongoing work here in Ireland, we also know that there is a stigma around lung cancer and that awareness of the symptoms of lung cancer is quite low, particularly among former smokers. The Beaumont pilot programme has been very successful, especially in identifying lung cancer at a very early stage. We know that drugs exist to treat lung cancer at this early stage. When will the national screening advisory committee, which is scheduled to review the work, issue a report on the possibility of a pilot programme?

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I am not in a position to give that date at the moment but I will try to come back to the Deputy as soon as I can. Very few countries have introduced lung cancer screening because of the uncertainty around its effectiveness. That does not mean we should not explore it. As the Deputy has done, I want to commend the pilot programme that has been introduced, instituting a community-based lung health check programme by inviting individuals from north Dublin and the north-east region identified as being at high risk of lung problems to attend for mobile screening, for breath tests and for low-dose CT scans. I have met a number of people who were not high risk who have developed lung cancer. They run marathons and do not smoke, and yet they have lung cancer. As the Deputy has said, in those cases diagnosis often happens at a considerably more advanced stage, which is obviously exceptionally problematic. How do we best capture that group? How do we screen in that group? Under Europe's Beating Cancer plan, in 2022 the recommendation was for further expansion of cervical, breast and bowel cancer screening, and feasibility studies on gastric, prostate and lung cancers. We have to get that balance right around effectiveness. I am so glad to have the opportunity to discuss it in the Dáil today with the Deputy.

Catherine Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate what the Minister has said. I also congratulate her on expanding the home testing for cervical screening. People who are diagnosed with lung cancer at an early stage have an 80% survival rate. Being diagnosed at a late stage reduces the survival rate by up to 20%. I commend the Marie Keating Foundation and the Irish Cancer Society. The Marie Keating Foundation's Breathless Collection campaign is hugely important in highlighting awareness and also in supporting campaigns for a national screening programme. I ask the Minister to commit to publishing the implementation roadmap and the report from the advisory committee, and to confirm that we will hopefully see a lung cancer screening programme during the lifetime of this Government.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I am not in a position to say that because I do not know what the recommendation will be. Thankfully this is a country driven by science and scientific evidence.

This is a matter of real concern to me.

The Deputy referenced advances in cervical screening. While I have the opportunity, I want to reference that it is expanding and that there are home testing kits, which is a huge advancement for women who do not necessarily feel comfortable presenting for screening or who just want to avail of their sheer convenience. This will help us to make sure those screenings get done. In the same way, we have now extended bowel cancer screening through the community pharmacy agreement. I am so glad to see so many pharmacies sign up to this fantastic opportunity to diagnose common conditions and provide prescriptions to people right around the country from early next year. It also enables pharmacies to identify people within their cohort of patients or customers who should be screening for bowel cancer, register them for the system and give them the kits over the counter that may be used at home and sent back. These are life-changing interventions that can happen in people's homes. I ask anyone who is watching to engage in cervical or bowel screening or any of our screening programmes.