Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 169: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will confirm that the intention is to raise standards and increase capacity and capability in laboratories here for cervical screening to ensure existing expertise is not lost and to ensure the highest standard of reporting recall and management of Irish patients; if her attention has been drawn to the dangers of loss of local expertise; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17597/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The roll out of a national cervical screening programme is the most efficient population approach to preventing and controlling cervical cancer. The National Cancer Screening Service (NCSS) is planning to roll out such a programme on a national basis and is in the final stages of preparations. The service will be available free of charge to all eligible women in Ireland aged 25-60. A national programme will provide screening in a primary care setting every three years for women aged 25-44 years and screening every five years for women aged 45-60 years. The priority is to establish a national quality assured, organised cervical screening programme and it will be implemented in line with best international practice.

All elements of the programme will be quality assured — call and recall, laboratory testing, colposcopy and will be managed to deliver a single integrated national service. A cytology procurement process is underway. This process commenced in December 2007 and the outcome of this will be announced shortly.

The vital emphasis of the procurement process has been and will be on quality of the national programme. The necessary entry criteria in choosing a cytology partner included accreditation status and that the laboratory dealt with a minimum of 25,000 smears per annum. These criteria were chosen in line with international acceptable criteria for cervical screening programmes. The NCSS will ensure that the laboratory elements will be delivered in an efficient and cost effective manner and with high quality and acceptable turn-around time for results and so avoid unacceptably long delays for routine cervical smear test results as a priority.

The specific question raised by the Deputy in relation to standards, capacity and capability of cytology laboratories relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the HSE under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to respond directly to the Deputy in this regard.