John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, to the House. It was brought to my attention in recent months by a number of public health nurses and various members of the medical services in my area of Carlow and Kilkenny that there is a problem with the operation of the child health screening programme. I am not familiar with the operation of the scheme throughout the country or even in my own area but I am aware the scheme, as originally operated, provided a useful service for children, their families and the State in identifying illnesses or other problems children might have at an early stage and acting upon them as soon as possible.

In recent years it appears the operation of the scheme has become more haphazard in that not as many tests are being carried out or not as many aspects of the child's health are being covered as was the case previously. I am anxious to hear the Minister of State outline the current position on the number of children being reached by the scheme and any views he or the Government has on how the scheme could be revised and modernised to ensure it continues to provide a useful service, in particular in detecting difficulties children might experience with their hearing or sight, dental checks and so on. The scheme provided a useful service in that regard and I hope it will continue in future. I am sure the Minister of State has detailed information on the way the scheme operates and any changes envisaged in the foreseeable future.

Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)
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I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. I thank the Senator for raising the matter as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the House the importance attached by the Department and the Health Service Executive to child health screening.

The matter raised by the Senator relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the HSE under the Health Act 2004. I am not aware of the reports referred to by the Senator. However, I set out below the principles guiding the provision of school screening services.

Best Health for Children introduced national recommendations on the child health screening and surveillance programme in 1999, and these were revised in 2005. In summary, current recommendations regarding child health screening that should be offered to children attending primary school are as follows: health assessment at school entry with follow-up selective medical examination where necessary; hearing screening at school entry; and vision screening at school entry and exit.

The school screening service is public health nursing led and where anomalies are discovered, children are referred to the area medical officer service, community ophthalmology or a service relevant to the issue highlighted. Should any urgent medical issues arise, an appropriate referral is advised immediately. There is coverage of all public primary schools and uptake rates are very satisfactory. In areas where the service is unable to visit all schools during the school year, the outstanding schools are visited as early as possible the following school year. Particular emphasis is placed on children who join a school who have not had a previous school health examination and in these cases, all elements of the screening programme are provided to those children.

A health assessment questionnaire for completion by parents has been also introduced in some areas and, based on the review of these questionnaires by the school public health nurse, children are referred to school medical clinics at their local health centre if necessary. In the case of a child being absent on the day of screening, parents are offered the facility of bringing their child to the local health centre for screening at a nurse-led child health clinic. I have been informed by the HSE that the statistical information on the coverage achieved by the programme since 2000 is not available.