Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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753. To ask the Minister for Health the reason that mammograms cease for women at the age of 69 years when the incidents of breast cancer are higher over the age of 70 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51455/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I am fully committed to supporting our population screening programmes which are a valuable part of our health service, enabling early treatment and care for many people, and improving the overall health of our population.

I am pleased to advise, in line within the Programme for Government commitments, that BreastCheck have implemented the age-extension project to women aged from 50 to 69 years. International evidence shows that due to incidence and mortality from breast cancer in this age group, it is effective to screen women in this age range. The evidence also shows that the benefits of screening that can be gained by women in this age group outweigh the harms.

It is important to note that any future decisions about changes to population-based screening programmes, including BreastCheck, will be made on the advice of the National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC). This is an independent expert group which considers and assesses evidence in a robust and transparent manner, and against internationally accepted criteria and makes recommendations to the Minister for Health. It is important we have rigorous processes in place to ensure our screening programmes are effective, quality assured and operating to safe standards.

The Committee's first Annual Call in 2021 for proposals for new screening programmes or changes to our existing programmes, received a significant response with a total of 53 submissions received. Submissions were received from various sources, and have been undergoing consideration by the committee at its scheduled meetings during 2022. I am pleased to note, however, that the Committee has already made a decision in relation to breast cancer screening. Following submissions from several sources, including from BreastCheck, the Committee has asked HIQA to begin looking at the evidence for extending the age range from 45 to 49 and 70 to 74 years for breast screening.

Updated EU Council recommendations on cancer screening were recently adopted by the European Commission, and the final recommendations are expected to be formally approved and published by the EU Council in December 2022. The NSAC will consider the final updated Council recommendation and advise the Minister and Department of Health on the evidence as it applies to the population in Ireland.

The NSAC intends to publish its full work programme in the coming weeks.