Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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1001. To ask the Minister for Health if consideration will be given to the introduction of additional nationwide organised screening programmes for two of the four major cancers in Ireland, namely, prostate cancer and lung cancer, taking into account that nationwide screening programmes for breast cancer, cervical cancer and colorectal cancer have led to the early detection of cases in recent decades; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54535/22]

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.

Any decisions about changes to the screening programmes, such as introducing a new cancer screening programme, will be made on the advice of our National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC). This independent expert group considers and assesses evidence in a robust and transparent manner, and against internationally accepted criteria. It is important we have rigorous processes in place to ensure our screening programmes are effective, quality assured and operating to safe standards, and that the benefits of screening outweigh the harms.

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, including on lung and prostate cancer. Submissions were received from various sources, including members of the public and patient advocates, and have been undergoing consideration by the committee at its scheduled meetings during 2022. The NSAC intends to publish its full work programme in the coming weeks.

Under Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, a Proposal for an updated Council Recommendations on cancer screening was adopted by the Commission in September 2022. The final Recommendation is expected to be formally approved by the Council of the European Union in December 2022 and published thereafter.  The NSAC will consider these recommendations and advise me and the Department of Health on the evidence as it applies to Ireland.

The latest cancer trends report, published by the National Cancer Registry Ireland recently, focuses on cancer incidence, mortality, stage and survival for patients diagnosed with female breast cancer, cervical cancer and colorectal cancer. The report shows the positive impacts of our three cancer screening programmes (Bowel Screen, BreastCheck, CervialCheck) noting that they are effective, are detecting cancers earlier and saving lives.  The report shows that screen-detected cancer cases were, on average, detected at a substantially earlier stage than other cases diagnosed at the same ages. Survival has improved for all three cancers, with the biggest improvements is seen in the age-groups targeted by the national screening programmes.