Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Boyhan for giving me the opportunity to update the House on this important matter. There is probably not a house in Ireland that has not been affected by cancer. I did not realise the Senator was a former director of the National Treatment Purchase Fund so he has a very good understanding of how it actually works.

I am pleased to say that our three cancer screening programmes - BreastCheck, CervicalCheck and BowelScreen - are operating. All programmes were paused for a time in 2020 due to Covid-19. While screening services resumed throughout last year, it was at reduced capacity. BreastCheck was paused again in January and February of this year due to the Covid-19 situation and resumed screening on 8 March 2021.

The National Screening Service has done a significant amount of work to mitigate against Covid-19 risks and support the safe resumption of services. This has included the vaccination of front-line staff in screening services. The latest data show a good increase in numbers screened during March and April. In March, CervicalCheck screened over 45,000 women and the provisional data for April indicates that over 28,000 women were screened. This is significantly above the target of 24,000 and I acknowledge the huge effort by CervicalCheck, primary care services and GPs and the laboratory services in achieving this level of activity. The provisional April data for BreastCheck show that over 12,000 women were screened and in BowelScreen, over 24,000 invitations were issued. Again, I acknowledge all the teams in screening services and clinical pathways for their ongoing work to get screening back to full capacity.

The focus of the resumption of cancer screening services includes the management of capacity across the whole of the screening pathway, which includes follow-up assessment and treatments so while invitations for screening were paused, it is important to note that follow-up assessments and treatment continued throughout the pandemic with a particular focus on urgent and time-sensitive cases.

In resuming screening, those who may be at highest risk of disease are being prioritised. The Senator was quite right when he said that early detection is vital. It is also important to emphasise that screening is a population-based measure aimed at healthy people who do not have symptoms. People who may be between screening appointments or who are waiting for rescheduled appointments should contact their GP if they are concerned about any possible symptoms.

In terms of funding, an additional €10 million was allocated for cancer screening services to the HSE for 2021. Many of the new developments being funded in 2021 will enable the management of screening service users with deferred appointments due to Covid-19. One important initiative prioritised for 2021 is the development and opening of semi-permanent BreastCheck units in two locations in Donegal and Dublin later this year.In light of all of this, I trust the public can be assured of the ongoing commitment to our national cancer screening programmes and to getting services back to full capacity as safely and as quickly as possible.