Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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656. To ask the Minister for Health if he has plans to introduce a national lung cancer screening service; if he has received any proposals for such a service; the projected annual cost for such a programme; the annual cost for each individual cancer screening service currently in place; the projected number of people each will screen in 2022 and 2023, respectively, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6779/23]

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 screening will be made on the advice of the 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.

An exact costing cannot be provided for the introduction of a new population-based screening programme as financial cost is but one factor that is considered in the decision-making process. Due to the complex nature of the evaluation process and the criteria against which a decision is made, it would be impossible to accurately quantify the cost of a new screening programme until a full evidential assessment was completed.

The Committee's first Annual Call (2021) for proposals for new screening programmes or changes to our existing programmes, received a significant response with over 50 submissions, including proposals for Lung Cancer. Submissions were received from various sources, including members of the public and patient advocates, and underwent consideration by the committee at its scheduled meetings during 2022. The Committee recently published its Work Programme on its website and launched a second Annual Call.

Under Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, a Proposal for an updated European Council Recommendation on cancer screening was formally approved on 9 December 2022 and published thereafter. The NSAC will consider this recommendation and advise me and the Department of Health on the evidence as it applies to Ireland.

Please note the additional queries raised are a service matter they have been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to you.