Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 207: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the fact that at least 40,000 letters were returned to the cervical cancer screening programme in March and April 2010 due to fact that they were addressed incorrectly or because the addressees had moved; if the database in question is used for other purposes by the Health Service Executive or other agencies, in which case other important correspondence may be missed by would be recipients; the action she will take; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21892/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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I am aware of the issue raised by the Deputy. The NCSS has launched an investigation into this matter and it will provide a full statement once the investigation is complete. The NCSS has assured me that the return of these unopened letters has had no adverse overall impact on uptake levels for the CervicalCheck Programme, which aims for an uptake level of 80% in the target population. During 2009 CervicalCheck aimed to screen 240,000 women, but in fact approximately 280,000 women were screened. Uptake levels in 2010 continue to reach projected monthly targets.

The reason for letters not reaching the intended person relate mainly to population mobility. There are over 1.2 million women aged 25 to 60 eligible for a free smear test as part of the CervicalCheck programme. As there is no central population database in Ireland, CervicalCheck has assembled a register from information supplied by the Department of Social Protection and self registration of women. The database used by CervicalCheck is known as the Cervical Screening Register (CSR). The CSR is a confidential, secure electronic database containing demographic details and screening history details of women in the eligible population. The Health (Provision of Information) Act 1997 provides the legislative framework for the compilation of the CSR.

CervicalCheck communicates with every woman whose details are provided and relies upon the accuracy of such information. If communications are not responded to, the NCSS sends a number of subsequent reminder letters to ensure that every effort is made to contact eligible women. CervicalCheck encourages any woman who changes her address to notify the programme of the change in her details. I understand that the information held on the CSR is used only by CervicalCheck and is not shared with any other agency.