Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 138: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the medical basis for the Irish cervical screening programme's recommendation that smear tests be carried out every five years; her views on whether it is advisable to recommend more frequent smear tests in view of the unusually high rates of cervical cancer here, in line with other countries such as Canada, where a two to three year interval is recommended, or the US, where an annual test is recommended. [32222/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Irish Cervical Screening Programme (ICSP) was established following the Report of the Department of Health Cervical Screening Committee, 1996, with a pilot development in the Mid-West in October 2000. Under the Programme, cervical screening is currently offered, free of charge, to approximately 74,000 women in the 25 to 60 age group, at five year intervals.

The optimal screening interval is one that provides the most favourable ratio between degree of disease control and cost of screening. In 2004 the International Agency for Cancer Research and the World Health Organisation recommended a screening interval of 3 years in younger women (25-45 years). Thereafter 5 yearly screening is adequate for women who have no history of abnormality. This is a recommendation of the Expert Report on the ICSP in July 2004 which is informing my Department's planning of the national roll-out by 2008.

I will shortly establish a National Cancer Screening Service to amalgamate BreastCheck and the ICSP to deliver both programmes nationally. This will maximise the expertise in both programmes, ensure improved efficiency and develop a single governance model for cancer screening.