Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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479. To ask the Minister for Health if he has considered an NCT for humans to be proactive regarding people's well-being and health; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24249/14]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Healthy Ireland - the Framework for Improved Health and Wellbeing 2013 – 2025 is the national framework for action to improve the health and well-being of the country over the coming generations. Healthy Ireland supports a whole-of-government approach to address the determinants and predictors of health and well-being, many of which fall outside the health sector, e.g. housing, transportation, education, workplaces and environment along with an individual’s socioeconomic status.

Critical to the success of Healthy Ireland is an active, central Government policy driven approach where Healthy Ireland’s actions are systematically embedded into the policies and programmes of relevant government departments, local authorities and statutory agencies. It is equally important that there is active engagement at local level, empowering and encouraging individuals to take the steps which they may need to take to protect their own health and well-being.

Early detection and prevention are an integral part of our health strategy. It is intended that this will be a focus of a new GP contract and many screening programmes are currently under way in our health Service.