Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First, I thank Senator McGreehan for giving me the opportunity to update the House on this important matter in behalf of the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. The Government is fully committed to supporting our population screening programmes, which are valuable part of our health service. As the Senator is aware, BreastCheck, along with other cancer screening programmes, was temporarily paused last year due to the impact of Covid-19 on both our health services and communities. While BreastCheck resumed in October 2020, unfortunately it had to be paused again, and issued new invitations in January and February of this year.

I am pleased to inform the Senator that it has resumed again last month with more than 8,000 participants having been screened. The programme has done a great amount of work to support the safe resumption of screening by taking measures to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection to the participants and staff.

The focus of the resumption of breast screening includes the management of capacity across the whole screening pathway, which includes follow-up assessments and treatments. I would like it to be noted that even when screening was paused, the programme continued to operate follow-up clinics. Breast screening involves close contact between staff and participants, and with Covid-19 safety measures in place, it will obviously take longer to get through the current screening round.

However, in Ireland we are fortunate in that we screen more frequently than many European countries, meaning it is expected we will still be in line with international norms for breast screening. An additional €10 million has been provided in 2021 for cancer screening service in the HSE national service plan.

One important initiative prioritised for 2021 is the development and opening of semi-permanent BreastCheck units in two locations. These new units and the recruitment of more staff will help to enhance the capacity of the programme. In line with the commitments in the programme for Government, BreastCheck is currently implementing an age extension project that will see all women aged between 50 and 69 years being invited for routine breast screening.

As to consideration of any further age changes, such as reducing the age to people under 50 years of age, as the Senator has suggested, it is vital we remember that breast screening is a population health screening measure and is not an individual diagnostic test. The balance between the benefits of screening and the potential harms or risks to the population as a whole require careful evidence-based consideration and balancing.

As with all national screening programmes, BreastCheck delivers its services in line with international criteria for population-based screening programmes that are kept under constant review. Decisions about changes to our national screening programmes will be made on the advice of our national screening advisory committee. This independent expert group considers the evidence for changes in a robust and transparent manner. This ensures policy decisions are informed by the best available evidence and advice. It may be of interest that the committee recently published its first annual report, which is available on the Department of Health’s website.

BreastCheck provides a lot of information for the public on its website breastcheck.ie. This includes educational materials to encourage women to be aware of general breast health and, crucially, the common symptoms they should seek medical advice on. It runs social and digital media campaigns and provides valuable information on its website, including regular updates on Covid-19.

I take this opportunity to emphasise that screening is for healthy people who do not have symptoms. People who are between screening appointments or are waiting for a rescheduled appointments are asked to be aware of symptoms, and if they have concerns or worries, they should contact their GP who will arrange appropriate follow-up care. In light of all this, I trust that the public can be assured the Government is committed to our national screening programmes.